U.S. ALLEGES Proud Boy planned Capitol breach.

WASHINGTON — U.S. prosecutors alleged for the first time that a Washington state leader of the Proud Boys was nominated by members of the group to take charge of the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6 and carried out a plan to split into groups to break into the building from as many points as possible.

In a 24-page filing Monday, U.S. prosecutors asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to keep Ethan Nordean, 30, of Seattle, in jail pending trial, appealing a lower court’s Feb. 8 release order.

Nordean was “nominated from within to have ‘war powers’ ” to lead activities at the Capitol after the group’s chairman, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, was arrested by D.C. police upon arriving in the city two days earlier, Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Nelson and Jason McCullough alleged. They do not state whether Nordean or others were formally selected to lead events that day.

The prosecutors also asserted that Nordean led the group by positioning Proud Boys members — carrying encrypted two-way Chinese-made Baofeng radios and wearing military-style gear — at an entrance to the Capitol grounds that was guarded by only a handful of Capitol Police officers and spreading out others to different locations to avoid triggering police interest.

“By blending in and spreading out, Defendant and those following him on January 6 made it more likely that either a Proud Boy — or a suitably-inspired ‘normie’ [nonmilitant Trump supporter] — would be able to storm the Capitol and its ground in such a way that would interrupt [Congress’s] Certification of the Electoral College vote,” prosecutors said.

A detention hearing for Nordean initially set for Tuesday was rescheduled for today.

Nordean, also known as Rufio Panman online, was arrested Feb. 3 on charges of aiding and abetting the destruction of government property, obstructing an official proceeding, trespassing and disorderly conduct on restricted Capitol grounds. The charges include an offense of violence and a charge defined as a federal crime of terrorism — destroying property to intimidate or coerce the government — punishable by up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Nordean attorney Corey Endo, an assistant federal defender in Seattle, argued when her client was first arrested that he is not accused of violence, has no criminal history, and that prosecutors were targeting Proud Boys members via “guilt by association.”

His local attorneys in Washington, D.C., David Smith and Nicholas Smith, argued in a court motion for his release that it is not clear that any damage attributed to Nordean would amount to more than a misdemeanor or that his alleged conversation or association with other charged individuals amounted to “aiding and abetting.”

Nordean also should be released because more than 14 days have passed without a probable cause hearing since his initial Feb. 3 court appearance, his defense said.

In granting Nordean’s release Feb. 8 and staying it pending appeal, Chief Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida of Seattle said the accused could remain free on the condition that he not travel outside his home county, comply with a nightly curfew and surrender all passports.

Prosecutors have cast Nordean as a key link in their investigation, saying his communications before Jan. 6 indicate that he and other Proud Boys were planning in advance to organize a group that would try to overwhelm police barricades and breach the Capitol.

The FBI and U.S. prosecutors have charged nearly 20 members or associates of the Proud Boys in the breach, and they have accused several members of leading some of the most destructive, aggressive and early efforts to stampede police and break into the building.

The far-right group has a history of violence, and Canada has designated it a terrorist entity.

Tarrio has denied that the group organized any violence at the Capitol. He was not at the Jan. 6 rally and has not been charged with any wrongdoing related to the riot. “There was no plan to go into the Capitol. … There was no plan to even interrupt Congress,” Tarrio has said.

According to Monday’s court filing, Nordean on Nov. 16 posted that “any militia groups” in the Pacific Northwest should contact him on an encrypted social media application by direct message to coordinate.

Prosecutors said that for days beforehand, Nordean also communicated online to obtain tactical vests, armored plates, bear spray and donations for “protective gear and communications” to be used on Jan. 6.

Arrangements also were made to program, distribute and set to predesignated channels “multiple Baofeng radios for use by Proud Boys members to communicate during the event,” prosecutors said, although it was not clear whether their attempts to use them were successful.