Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested a man who described himself as the “sergeant of the gun” in the Seattle chapter of the far-right group Proud Boys, after he was charged in connection with the riot at the US Capitol last month.
Ethan Nordean, 30, who is also going through Rufio Panman, is accused of obstructing or obstructing an official process, providing assistance and knowingly entering or staying in a restricted building. The most serious charges include up to 20 years in prison.
He is at least the eighth accused linked to the male chauvinist and extremist Proud Boys facing federal charges after thousands of Trump troop supporters stormed the U.S. capital as Congress convened to win Joe Biden’s presidential victory confirm.
A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Wednesday indicted two of the accused, Nicholas DeCarlo, of Burleson, Texas, and Nicholas R. Ochs, of Honolulu, Hawaii, after their arrests last month. The couple are accused, among other things, of scratching ‘Murder the media’ on a door of the Capitol and stealing some flexible handcuffs that belonged to the Capitol police. Ochs is one of the founders of Hawaii’s chapter of the Proud Boys.
Nordean made his first appearance in the U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon, represented by public defender Corey Endo. A magistrate judge ordered him to remain in custody until a status conference and detention hearing Monday.
The FBI said he was arrested without incident at his home in Auburn, south of Seattle.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, Nordean is known for fighting with left-wing antifa protesters in Portland, and one infamous outburst in a 2018 video-captured confrontation.
“We have been trying for a long time to distract our son from the path that led to his arrest today – to no avail,” his father, Mike Nordean, said in an email Wednesday. “Ethan will be held accountable for his actions.”
Prosecutors said Nordean posted before the riot about plans to organize a group and posted a video with the caption: “Let them remember the day they decided to wage war with us.” According to investigators, he also posted videos with other Proud Boys members about what he described as ‘blatant, unbridled voter fraud’.
Authorities allege that Nordean told others that they should not be complacent and that the Proud Boys “would bring back the original spirit of 1776 of what the character of America is.” Later in the video, prosecutors say, Nordean said: “Democracy is dead? Well, then there is no peace for you. No democracy, no peace. ”
“It’s now more than ever clear that if you’re a patriot, you’ll be targeted and they’ll come after you. The funny thing is, they do not realize it’s going to happen,” he told prosecutors. . “You chose your side, black and yellow along with red, white and blue against all the others.”
Nordean marched in front of a group of Proud Boys shortly before the riot began, and he and other members of the group broke into the Capitol building. They allege that Nordean was near the front of the crowd of rioters and then confronted the excessively redundant Capitol police officers.
Two days after the riot, prosecutors said, he posted a photo of a Capitol police officer firing pepper spray with the caption: “If you feel bad for the police, you’re part of the problem …”