A fresh batch of Proud Boys are discovering they’ve been left on the hook as the Department of Justice reels them in:
CNN
Two prominent affiliates of the Proud Boys face new conspiracy charges related to the US Capitol riot, and another was arrested Wednesday, as the Justice Department laid out a planning and funding effort within the far-right extremist group in a major court development.
The Justice Department unveiled the new conspiracy charge in a federal grand jury indictment of Nicholas Ochs and Nicholas DeCarlo.
The indictment alleges the two conspired to block Congress' certification of the electoral votes on January 6. Prosecutors say they planned and fundraised for the effort, then came to Washington, DC, and stormed past police and into the Capitol building as part of the violent crowd, according to a copy of the indictment.
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Also on Wednesday, the so-called Sergeant at arms of the Proud Boys in Seattle, Ethan Nordean, aka "Rufio Panman," was arrested, then appeared in federal court for his role in the riot. Federal prosecutors wrote they believed Nordean asked on social media for help to buy "protective gear" and "communications equipment," with the intention of organizing people before the January 6 siege, his charging document said. He is charged with three counts related to entering the Capitol, and the allegations he faces name several other Proud Boys affiliates among the crowd.
Count One of the Federal Indictment charges these two with:
NICHOLAS DeCARLO and NICHOLAS OCHS, did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree, with each other and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to commit an offense against the United States, namely, to corruptly obstruct, influence and impede any official proceeding, to wit, Congress' certification of the Electoral College vote, and to attempt to do so, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(c)(2).
In fishing parlance they call that “a whopper”...
Honolulu Civil Beat
WASHINGTON — Hawaii Proud Boy Nicholas Ochs faces a series of new criminal charges related to storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 with a pro-Trump mob intent on stopping Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging Ochs and fellow Proud Boy Nicholas DeCarlo with conspiracy, destruction of government property and theft for their part in the insurrection.
Specifically, Ochs and DeCarlo are accused of breaking into the Capitol and scrawling the words “Murder the Media” on a memorial doorway.
The two men are part of a live streaming collective also called Murder The Media. Ochs, a University of Hawaii graduate, has said he was at the Capitol as a journalist even though he did not have the proper credentials.
Another insurrectionist is also learning his social media notoriety can come back to bite him:
The Seattle Times
Ethan Nordean, a 30-year-old bodybuilder known in right-wing circles by his alias, Rufio Panman, faces four federal criminal counts in the District of Columbia, including obstructing an official proceeding, aiding and abetting injury to government property, disorderly conduct and knowingly and violently entering a restricted building, according to a criminal complaint.
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In the days leading up to the insurrection, authorities contend Nordean also wrote a post under his alias on Parler, the social-media platform widely used by Trump supporters and right-leaning groups, that indicated “he and other Proud Boys members were planning in advance to organize a group that would attempt to overwhelm police barricades and enter the United States Capitol building.”
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On Jan. 4, Nordean also allegedly posted a link to his video podcast, “Rebel Talk with Rufio,” that included a variety of incriminating statements, as well as a video captioned, “Let them remember the day they decided to make war with us,” the affidavit alleges.
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“He’s particularly noteworthy for the extraordinary levels of thuggish violence he brings to these events,” Dave Neiwert, an author and journalist for the progressive news website Daily Kos who has written about the radical right, noted in a recent social media post about Nordean.
If you read through to the end, you’ll note that Daily Kos front page contributor David Neiwert received his own bit of notoriety by being quoted in The Seattle Times! Kudos!
