Proud Boys Leader Ordered Released; Are Capitol Riot Suspects Getting Preferential Treatment?

Despite prosecutors' protests, a federal magistrate judge in Washington state on Monday ordered a Proud Boys' organizer's release pending trial and while facing charges connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Ethan Nordean had been charged Tuesday with four counts related to the riots. Prosecutors were seeking to have him held without bond pending trial. FBI documents have frequently referenced the Proud Boys for their role in the Capitol riots.

Nordean, also known by the alias "Rufio Panman," had been described as a flight risk and a danger to the community by the government. A passport under a different name had been found on a bedroom dresser by law enforcement.

Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida agreed to release Nordean with conditions, which included travel restrictions, a curfew, and a requirement to adhere to COVID guidelines.

Nordean's attorney argued the passport doesn't indicate his client is a flight risk, claiming the person in the photo looks nothing like Nordean and noted the suspect voluntarily turned himself in after being informed by his wife investigators were seeking him. The defense attorney also said evidence connecting Nordean to a broken window at the Capitol was thin, despite images of Nordean climbing through the window.

However, Tsuchida stayed his order to allow prosecutors to appeal the ruling. The top judge in the District of Columbia's federal court, Beryl Howell, has moved to stay similar release orders against the alleged insurrectionists. Howell did, however, agree to the release of a New Mexico county commissioner, who is also the founder of a group calling itself Cowboys for Trump.

Tsuchida's ruling speaks to a pattern of suspects in the Capitol attack being treated with a light hand by the court system despite charges stemming from a deadly attack on the Capitol aimed at overturning the certification of the presidential election.

Jenny Louise Cudd, a Texas florist, was charged after posting a Facebook video in which she essentially confessed to being there, according to Vanity Fair. Cudd says in a video, "I was here today on Jan. 6 when the new revolution started at the Capitol."

Cudd was still allowed to travel to Mexico for a four-day retreat, though federal prosecutors did not object to the request.

The attorney for a 22-year-old suspect from Maryland argued Monday that his client was just following the orders of former President Donald Trump. The defense lawyer was attempting to get Matthew Ryan Miller released pending trial. Trump is facing an impeachment trial for inciting violence.

Another man facing federal charges, Jacob Chansley of Arizona, was recently transferred to a different detention facility after a judge ordered Chansley — also known as Jake Angeli or the QAnon Shaman — was entitled to be served organic food while in custody. Chansley was photographed inside the Capitol building wearing an animal horn headdress and face paint.

Federal authorities have opened case files on some 400 potential suspects, with sedition charges expected to be filed against some of those individuals, the Washington Post noted.

CNN reported last month that 21 of the first 150 to be arrested were either active-duty military or veterans, more than double the representation of those groups overall. But some are arguing for those suspects to be given sympathetic treatment because they believed they were following the orders of the president.

In the wake of the Capitol attacks, some Republican lawmakers compared the alleged insurrectionists against Black Lives Matter protests from last summer. Others have attempted to blame Democratic political leaders for last month's violence.

There have been several questionable judicial decisions related to those charged. Former West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans was not detained after his arrest. Jenna Ryan, a real estate agent from Texas who flew to the insurrection via private jet, was released from custody shortly after being arrested and claimed she deserves a pardon.