Feds: Keep Biggs in jail before trial
Prosecutors want Proud Boys leader detained
Federal prosecutors have requested Ormond Beach Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs be detained as he awaits trial on charges that he helped plan the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, arguing his current home detention cannot adequately “guard against further attacks by his followers.”
Prosecutors at a hearing Tuesday argued that Biggs — as well as co-defendant and fellow Proud Boy Ethan Nordean, known as “Rufio Panman” — should not remain out of custody. In a motion to revoke his release, the government argued Biggs presents a danger “not only based on his own acts of defiance and violence, but through the actions of those who still undoubtedly support him.”
The Proud Boys are a far-right extremist group that has had more than a dozen members arrested in the Capitol attack, including others from Central Florida.
Attorneys for both Biggs and Nordean opposed pretrial detention, pointing to the men’s compliance with their current pretrial release conditions, including GPS monitoring and home confinement. The defense lawyers also questioned the strength of the evidence that prosecutors say shows the men planned the attack
or pose a threat of future danger.
“There is no indication that, like others present that day, he had any intent to enter the Capitol building until those last few seconds when he became part of a movement and flow of people who unfortunately did,” said Biggs’ attorney, J. Daniel Hull in a motion.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly did not rule on the matter Tuesday, but said he would do so Friday after reviewing additional evidence in the case.
Biggs, 37, was first arrested Jan. 20 on a federal felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding before Congress, as well as two misdemeanors: entering a restricted building and illegally entering Congress to disrupt official business.
Prosecutors said Biggs was spotted in photos and videos Jan. 6 among those who stormed the Capitol, attempting to interfere with the Electoral College vote to confirm President Joe Biden’s victory in November’s election.
But about two months after his initial arrest, a D.C. grand jury indicted Biggs on new, more-serious charges alleging that he helped plan the attempted insurrection at the Capitol, encouraging other Proud Boys members to travel to D.C., raising funds for travel expenses and obtaining “paramilitary gear and supplies — including tactical vests, protective equipment and radio equipment.”
Biggs faces the conspiracy charges along with Nordean, who is from Washington, and two other Proud Boys leaders: Zachary Rehl, of Philadelphia and Charles Donohoe, from Kenersville, N.C. Federal prosecutors have sought pretrial detention for all four defendants, but no rulings have yet been made.
Nordean was also arrested previously for participating in the riot, but released under similar conditions as Biggs. Prosecutors have said the new charges are “substantially different and more serious,” warranting the men’s detention.
“The danger [Biggs] poses is that he has the ability to do it again — and to again launch such plans from his home,” prosecutors wrote in their motion to detain Biggs. “… There is no basis to conclude that [he] is any less motivated to challenge the government authority unlawfully than he was on January 6.”
Hull, however, said the new charges lacked new evidence, calling them “a re-presentation of facts available and known to the government” since his pretrial release in January.
Hull also argued Biggs has no criminal history and has been compliant with federal pretrial conditions for the last 10 weeks, painting him as a family man who shares custody of his daughter with his estranged wife and helps care for his mother, who is battling cancer. He also said Biggs is an army veteran, twice-deployed, who has repeatedly cooperated with federal officials over the years, including the FBI on several occasions.
Hull said that the FBI has in the past asked Biggs for information about Antifa, a decentralized militant movement of leftists against fascism, whose adherents have sometimes clashed with the Proud Boys.
He said the FBI has also made “cautionary” calls to Biggs asking about a “politically or culturally provocative” statement, but Biggs has “regularly satisfied FBI personnel with his answers.” Hull’s motion also mentions that Biggs has “strong ties” to friends and colleagues of “all colors, religions, national backgrounds and cultures.”
“Is he dangerous, is he a risk?” Hull said at the hearing Tuesday. “The answer to both is clearly no.”
Nordean’s attorney, Nicholas Smith, said Tuesday that federal officials should operate on a presumption of pretrial release given the ongoing pandemic, noting the increased risk of COVID-19 infection inside detention facilities, which has prompted the federal government in some cases to release people into home confinement.
There are “people who have been convicted of more serious crimes, not alleged, who are being released,” Smith said.
Smith also said if prosecutors’ main concern is the pair’s ability to continue communicating with followers from their homes, then federal officials could update their pretrial release conditions to limit certain communication.
Kelly, however, questioned how officials could ensure the men would comply with such conditions.
Kelly also noted the limited scope of violence Nordean and Biggs are accused of committing during the riot, which prosecutors have said included them knocking down a police barricade, along with others. However, Kelly also said the context of that day — disrupting the peaceful transition of power — will be a key consideration in his decision about detention.
The judge said he will to consider “how uniquely bad and pernicious” the effort to disrupt Congress was, and look closely at “what is the risk of danger going forward.”