WA Proud Boy Ethan Nordean sentenced for Jan. 6 insurrection
Proud Boy member Ethan Nordean walks toward the U.S. Capitol in support of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A federal judge Friday sentenced a Washington resident and leader of the Proud Boys to 18 years in prison for helping to storm the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
Ethan Nordean, of Auburn, also received 36 months of supervised release, according to a news release by the U.S. Department of Justice. Nordean, 33, is one of several members of the Proud Boys to be sentenced this week by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly.
A group of right-wing street brawlers, the Proud Boys played a role in the attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as former President Donald Trump sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
In May, a jury found Nordean guilty of six federal counts, including seditious conspiracy, destruction of government property and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
Along with Proud Boy members Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola, Nordean “participated in every consequential breach at the Capitol on January 6,” according to a sentencing memo by federal prosecutors.
“Nordean led a group of nearly 200 men to the Capitol and onto Capitol grounds,” according to another sentencing memo by the federal government. “He immediately moved to the front of the throng and took action by tearing down the fence, which permitted the rioters to proceed further into the restricted area.”
“He defied law enforcement’s calls to disperse, and he ignored calls from his own men to leave. Nordean was there to use force against the government and lead what he viewed as a second American Revolution …” according to the memo, which requested a 27-year sentence for Nordean.
An email from Crosscut to Nordean’s attorney seeking comment was not immediately returned, but his attorney submitted a sentencing memo which stated in part: “The penalties Nordean has already incurred as a result of this case are sufficient to deter him from ever again entering the Capitol, protesting there, and recidivating.”
More than 1,100 individuals have been arrested since the insurrection, according to the Department of Justice.