Left: FILE – Proud Boys member Ethan Nordean, left, walks toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File). Right: Ethan Nordean in the crowd at the Capitol on Jan. 6 (via FBI court filing).
A leader of the extremist Proud Boys group convicted of seditious conspiracy for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol says that he should spend, at most, less than two years in prison because his behavior that day was essentially no more serious than a misdemeanor.
Ethan Nordean, 33, was convicted in May of seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, and conspiracy to obstruct Congress. He, alongside co-defendant and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, was deemed by a jury to have planned for violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, with Tarrio creating a so-called "Ministry of Self Defense" (MOSD) chapter of the Proud Boys and using encrypted messaging to organize and coordinate the group's role in the attack.
The seditious conspiracy and obstruction charges are the most serious, each carrying a potential maximum 20-year prison sentence. Nordean's lawyer argues that his client should spend significantly less time than that behind bars: no more than 15-21 months — less than two years. Nordean has been incarcerated since April 2021. If U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, hews close to the defendant's request, Nordean would likely be credited with time served and released.
The federal government, meanwhile, recommends a sentence of 324-405 months, or 27 to just under 34 years.
In his sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday, Nordean's lawyer says that his client's actions were akin to those of scores of rioters who were convicted of a disorderly conduct misdemeanor that carries a maximum 6-month jail sentence.
Calling Nordean's behavior that day "indistinguishable from the conduct of hundreds of January 6 protesters who have been charged with misdemeanors," the filing says that Nordean simply "walked in and out of the Capitol" that day — actions that shouldn't rise to the level of obstruction.
"In other words, if the government's novel [obstruction of a proceeding of Congress] offense is a crime 'analogous' to seditious conspiracy, so is a Class B parading offense," the filing says. "Thus, according to the government, over a thousand protesters have committed an offense akin to sedition. It is surely strange, then, that most of those defendants receive probationary sentences for an offense that is itself akin to treason, a hanging crime. The government's kludgy charging regime for January 6 purports to separate mice from elephants, when the naked eye sees they are either all mice or all elephants."
In fact, the memo says, Nordean's actions were little more than "boorishness and inappropriate behavior prompted by on-the-spot interactions among the crowd and law enforcement."
Nordean's lawyer also says that his client is a target of political persecution — a characterization with which the government will surely disagree.
"[The government] does rely on one concrete fact: Nordean belongs to a political organization targeted by the government," the filing says.
The Proud Boys, designated by the Southern Policy Law Center as a hate group, is a self-described "Western chauvinist" group known for engaging in political intimidation and street fighting. During a 2020 presidential debate, then-President Donald Trump refused to denounce the group outright, instead telling its members to "stand back and stand by."
According to the memo, Nordean has already suffered severe personal consequences and doesn't need to spend any more time in prison in order to learn his lesson.
"He has been incarcerated since April 2021," the filing says. "Long stretches of that period saw Nordean held in solitary confinement. His reputation and name have been permanently defaced in the court of public opinion. He will struggle for the rest of his life to hold down gainful employment."
"The shame Nordean has experienced is itself a guarantee of deterrence," the filing adds.
The filing provides background information about Nordean, saying that he was raised in suburban Seattle in a "stable middle-class household by his mother and father who have been married for 35 years." He had dropped out of a U.S. Navy Seal program due to an injury, which "left him at loose ends." He never went to college and has "cycled through various odd jobs" for most of his adult life.
"From about 2012 to 2015, Nordean was a young adult leader at New Life Christian Center in Washington," the filing says. "In the same period, he was also a mentor for Young Life, a nonprofit that brings together adults and troubled youths. In 2017, Nordean joined the Proud Boys group. Two years later, he married his wife, with whom he raises his 12-year-old daughter from a prior relationship."
Nordean says he hasn't seen his daughter in more than two years.
The memo says that Nordean will speak on his own behalf at his sentencing hearing and express "sincere remorse for his contribution to the chaos at the Capitol," which has been linked to the deaths of five police officers and at least two rioters, and forced lawmakers and staff to either flee the building or shelter in place for several terrifying hours.
"Nordean deeply regrets his decision to enter the restricted area and the Capitol Building and to disobey orders from law enforcement to turn around," the motion says. "To the extent his presence there and the members of his marching group contributed to the distress of outnumbered law enforcement officers, members of Congress, and their staff, he offers them his sincere apology."
According to the federal docket, Kelly will hear from the parties regarding sentencing, including victim impact statements and other testimony, on Aug. 29
Read Nordean's filing, below.
