A federal trial is scheduled to begin in February for a Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington on the eve of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

WASHINGTON– A federal trial is scheduled to begin in February for a Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters.

Brian J. Cole Jr.’s trial will begin on February 16 and will last approximately two weeks. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali set the trial date during a brief hearing Wednesday.

Zachary Lawson, one of Cole’s attorneys, told Ali that defense attorneys and prosecutors have not discussed the possibility of reaching a deal to resolve the case.

On Monday, the judge ruled that Trump’s mass pardons for Capitol rioters did not apply to Cole. Ali refused to dismiss Cole’s case before trial, rejecting defense attorneys’ arguments that their client qualifies for a pardon because his alleged actions are “inextricably and demonstrably” tied to the events near the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Ali, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, concluded that Trump’s blanket pardons for the Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the attack.

Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump, a Republican, was pardoned, commuted prison sentences and ordered the cases of the more than 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6 attack dismissed. Prosecutors have said Cole made a confession when FBI agents questioned him after his arrest.

Cole is accused of placing two pipe bombs in front of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters near the Capitol the night before the riot. The devices did not detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them on January 6.

A grand jury indicted Cole on four counts: interstate transportation of explosives, malicious intent to use explosives, act of terrorism while armed and attempt to use weapons of mass destruction.