Jan. 6 pipe bomb suspect urges judge to drop terrorism charge

The charge requires that the conduct was tied to an intent to influence a unit of government, which Brian Cole Jr. argues the Republican and Democratic National Committees are not.WASHINGTON (CN) — The Virginia man accused of planting two pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Committees on Jan. 5, 2021, asked a federal judge on Wednesday to dismiss a terrorism charge levied against him.Brian Cole Jr., who was arrested on Dec. 4, 2025, in Woodbridge, Virginia and charged with four counts that would carry a maximum of life in prison if convicted, argues federal prosecutors failed to show the “Act of Terrorism” charge was tied to any effort to influence the government.Cole, who is represented by John R. Glover of Tennessee firm Litson, called the lack of clarity a “remarkable omission” and grounds enough for U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to throw the charge out in a 12-page motion.The charge, an act of terrorism while armed via attempted malicious burning, destruction or injury of property under D.C. Code Section 22-3152, specifies that the act must be made with the intent to influence “the policy or conduct of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion.”It defines a unit of government as: the office of the President, Congress, any federal executive department or agency, the office of the Mayor of Washington, D.C., any executive department or agency of Washington, the D.C. Council, the local and federal courts or the Supreme Court.Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. filed the charge, along with a federal charge for the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, in a superseding indictment on April 14. They asserted Cole sought to influence the government and “intimidate and coerce a significant portion of the civilian population of the United States and the District of Columbia.”Cole argues prosecutors failed to make any mention of which unit of government Cole meant to influence, nor any evidence suggesting he meant to influence anything.“Quite the contrary, the only organizations mentioned in count four are clearly and objectively not units of government,” Glover wrote. “Middle school civics establishes that political party headquarters are not ‘units of government’; they exist not to govern, but to support their members’ political campaigns. And the D.C. Code confirms that obvious conclusion by omitting political parties and their headquarters from the 11 specific units of government enumerated in D.C. Code Section 22-3152(11).”Cole argues federal prosecutors have merely parroted the statute’s language and will face an uphill battle proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the charge should stick if the case proceeds to trial.Further, the local statute specifies two distinct ways of committing an act of terrorism: either coercing a significant portion of the civilian population in the capital or the nation, or influencing the policy or conduct of a unit of government. By pursuing both types of violations, Cole argues prosecutors impermissibly joined two distinct offenses in a single count.“If the jury were to issue an adverse general verdict against Mr. Cole under count four, it is possible that neither subpart would have unanimity: some jurors may have believed Mr. Cole to be guilty under subpart (A) (intimidating the civilian population) but not subpart (B) (influencing a unit of government), while others may have reached the inverse conclusion,” Glover wrote. “Similarly, some jurors may have believed that Mr. Cole attempted to harm the RNC but not the DNC, while others reached the opposite conclusion, leaving neither finding unanimous.”Cole urges Ali, a Joe Biden appointee, to either dismiss count four or instead require a bill of particulars and special jury instructions.The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. did not respond to a request for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads