Federal authorities revealed Sunday that Brian J. Cole Jr., the suspect arrested for placing pipe bombs near political party headquarters before the January 6 Capitol riot, confessed to targeting both major political parties because he believed someone needed to “speak up” for those who thought the 2020 election was stolen.

In a detention memo filed by the Justice Department, prosecutors outlined Cole’s statements to investigators following his December 4 arrest. Initially denying involvement, Cole eventually admitted to placing explosive devices outside both the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters on January 5, 2021.

“I really don’t like either party at this point,” Cole reportedly told investigators when asked about his motives. The memo describes how Cole felt that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse,” leading him to target political parties because “they were in charge.”

Cole expressed concern about the election results, telling agents that if people “feel that something as important as voting in the federal election is being tampered with… then someone needs to speak up, right? Someone up top. You know, just to, just to at the very least calm things down.”

The pipe bombs were discovered on the afternoon of January 6, the same day that supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Although Cole denied his actions were directly connected to the Capitol riot, the timing has been a significant focus of investigators during the nearly five-year probe.

According to prosecutors, Cole transported the explosives in a shoebox in his Nissan Sentra before placing them outside the political headquarters buildings. He reportedly set timers on both devices for 60 minutes, but neither detonated—a fact Cole told investigators he was “pretty relieved” about, claiming he planted them at night because he did not want to kill anyone.

Federal authorities aren’t accepting that explanation, noting in their filing that the devices’ failure to explode was due to “luck, not lack of effort.” Prosecutors argued that Cole poses a continued danger to the public and should remain in custody while his case proceeds.

“The defendant’s choice of targets risked the lives not only of innocent pedestrians and office workers but also of law enforcement, first responders, and national political leaders who were inside of the respective party headquarters or drove by them on January 6, 2021, including the Vice President-elect and Speaker of the House,” the memo states.

When initially questioned about his whereabouts on January 5, 2021, Cole claimed he had driven to Washington, D.C. to attend a protest related to the contested election. “I didn’t agree with what people were doing, like just telling half the country that they—that their—that they just need to ignore it. I didn’t think that was a good idea, so I went to the protest,” he reportedly told investigators.

A search of Cole’s Woodbridge, Virginia, home after his arrest yielded shopping bags containing bomb-making components, providing further evidence linking him to the crime, prosecutors said.

The case marks a significant breakthrough in what had been one of the most high-profile unsolved aspects of the January 6 investigation. Law enforcement officials had previously released surveillance footage showing a hooded suspect placing the devices but struggled to identify the perpetrator until Cole’s arrest earlier this month.

Cole’s attorneys will have an opportunity to present their position regarding his detention at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Washington’s federal court. The discovery of the explosive devices on January 6 had prompted evacuations and diverted law enforcement resources during a critical period as the Capitol riot was unfolding just blocks away.