(The Center Square) – An Auburn, Washington man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role as a leader of the Proud Boys organization during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On May 4, a federal jury convicted Ethan Nordean, 32, and four other co-defendants of multiple felonies including obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent members of Congress or federal officers from discharging their duties in counting electoral votes to certify the 2020 presidential election. Nordean was also convicted of seditious conspiracy.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly imposed an 18-year prison term on Nordean, one of the longest yet for those who stormed the Capitol. Another defendant, 45-year-old Dominic Pezzola of Rochester, New York, was sentenced by Kelly to 10 years behind bars. The judge applied a federal terrorism enhancement for destruction of government property to the defendants’ convictions. Both men were also ordered to complete 36 months’ supervision upon release from prison.
During the hearing, Nordean reportedly apologized for his actions, acknowledging that some people were seriously hurt and others lost their lives.
Formed during the 2016 presidential election, the Proud Boys are considered a right-wing extremist group of white nationalists led by Enrique Tarrio at the time of the 2020 election.
Federal authorities alleged the organization played “a significant and often violent role in Washington, D.C. rallies in November and December 2020. In the aftermath of that violent conduct, Nordean was described as a key leader of a special chapter of the Proud Boys known as the ‘Ministry of Self Defense.’”
Justice Department officials also said that Pezzola, in the days leading to Jan. 6, was one of the “rally boys” hand-picked by Nordean and others for an attack on the Capitol. They were among a group of nearly 200 individuals who dismantled metal barricades, overwhelmed officers who had battled a larger crowd for nearly an hour outside the building, assaulted law enforcement and destroyed property. Authorities specifically singled out Pezzola for smashing open a window that allowed the first rioters to enter the Capitol.
Nordean’s 18-year prison term matched that of Stewart Rhodes, leader of another separatist group called the Oath Keepers, as the longest imposed to date for their actions that day. Nordean, who led the Proud Boys’ Seattle-area chapter, was described by the prosecution as the undisputed leader on the ground for his group on Jan. 6.
Nordean and Pezzola were convicted following a lengthy trial earlier this year along with Tarrio and two other Proud Boys defendants, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl, who were sentenced last week to 17 and 15 years in prison, respectively.
Tario, 39, of Miami, Florida is scheduled to be sentenced this Tuesday afternoon and prosecutors are seeking a 33-year prison term. Tarrio was not in Washington, D.C. on the day of the Capitol attack, as he had been banned from the city after being arrested in December 2020 for allegedly burning a “Black Lives Matter” flag in protest of President Donald Trump’s general election defeat a month earlier. But authorities alleged that Tarrio had recruited followers to join the storming of the Capitol, messaging them not to leave the building as members of Congress were attempting to certify electoral votes.
Attorneys for the defendants contended there was no conspiracy among Proud Boys members or an intent to incite violence. But Pezzola, who was acquitted at trial of seditious conspiracy, reportedly exited the courtroom Friday with a raised fist yelling, “Trump won!”
According to the Department of Justice, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states to date for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
The cases were investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with cooperation from numerous other FBI field offices and law enforcement agencies around the country and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.
