Proud Boy wins release pending trial

SEATTLE — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of suburban Seattle man and member of the Proud Boys far-right group, pending trial on charges filed in connection with the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., granted Ethan Nordean’s request for release despite prosecutors’ new allegations about the key role he played as the Proud Boys’ de facto leader and an organizer of the Capitol riot, The Seattle Times reported.

Though she called evidence of Nordean’s alleged role troubling, Howell ruled the government had “not met its burden by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant poses a danger to the community, or by a preponderance that he will flee” before trial.

Under the ruling, Nordean, 30, who is known in far-right circles by his alias, “Rufio Panman,” will be restricted to home detention and must remove all firearms in his home.

It was Nordean’s second attempt to win release pending trial on criminal charges related to the riot. U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida last month ordered Nordean to be released during a detention hearing in Seattle. But prosecutors appealed to the D.C. federal court, and Howell blocked the release, instead ordering Nordean to be transported to the nation’s capital to face further proceedings.

Because of delays caused by winter storms, a transport backlog and other complications, Howell said Nordean has remained held at the Federal Detention Center in Seatac, Washington.

A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted Nordean, charging him with essentially the same criminal counts that prosecutors had charged him with last month.

At least eight people linked to the Proud Boys have been charged in the Capitol riot.