Law & Crime
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to hold admitted Proud Boys member Ethan Nordean, also known as “Rufio Panman,” in jail without bond on charges that he played a role in a Jan. 6th siege on the U.S. Capitol Complex. Nordean poses a “serious risk of flight,” prosecutors said in a memorandum in support of pretrial detention filed Friday, Feb. 5.
“[T]here are no conditions, or combination of conditions, which would ensure Defendant’s presence at trial or the safety of the community if he is released,” prosecutors told a Washington, D.C. federal judge.
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“Whereas some of these rioters traveled to Washington, D.C., individually, a number of extremist and militia groups coordinated together to gather in Washington, expressing in advance their intent to interfere with the Electoral College certification,” prosecutors said in reference to Joe Biden‘s selection as the nation’s 46th president. “One such extremist group was the Proud Boys.”
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Prosecutors cited Nordean’s personal Parler account as evidence that he, too, was involved with planning efforts by the Proud Boys to participate in the deadly events. Again, from the memorandum:
Defendant was quickly identified as a participant in the riot, due to his prominent position amongst the Proud Boys and the number of images of his likeness published on the Internet. In investigating Defendant’s involvement on January 6, 2021, it quickly became apparent that he planned to participate in advance. Defendant was an active poster on the social media site “Parler,” where he identified himself as “Rufio Panman.”
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Defendant’s Parler posts prior to January 6, 2021, indicate that 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. For example, on or about, December 27, 2020, NORDEAN posted the following message on his Parler page: “Anyone looking to help us with safety/protective gear, or communications equipment it would be much appreciated, things have gotten more dangerous for us this past year, anything helps.” The post then linked to a fundraising site called “Protective gear and communications by Rufio Panman.”
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Also on or about, January 4, 2020, Defendant shared a post by a fellow Proud Boy leader, Individual A. Individual A posted a picture on Parler of himself and Defendant at a protest with the caption: “And fight we will.”
AP News
He is at least the eighth defendant linked to the male-chauvinist and extremist Proud Boys facing federal charges after thousands of pro-Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden’s presidential win.
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Nordean made an initial appearance in 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 on Monday.
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According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, Nordean is known for brawling with left-wing antifa demonstrators in Portland, infamously knocking one out in a 2018 confrontation captured on video.
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Two days after the riot, prosecutors said, he posted a photo of a Capitol Police officer firing pepper spray with a caption reading, “If you feel bad for the police, you are part of the problem...”