Leaders of Proud Boys ordered jailed on Capitol riot charges

A federal judge ruled that Joseph Biggs and Ethan Nordean are dangerous and should not be free pending trial.

A federal judge on Monday ordered two leaders of the far-right Proud Boys hardline group to be arrested and jailed while awaiting trial on charges they planned and coordinated the attack on the US Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Joseph Biggs and Ethan Nordean had been free since their March 10 indictment, but US District Judge Timothy Kelly concluded that the two men are dangerous and no conditions for their release could be adequate. The judge said Biggs and Nordean “facilitated political violence” even if they were not armed and did not assault anybody at the Capitol on January 6. Kelly overruled another federal judge in Washington, DC, who had ordered pretrial home confinement for Nordean. Biggs was freed after his initial January 20 arrest in his home state of Florida. Justice Department prosecutors initially did not seek to keep Biggs jailed but last month asked for his pretrial release to be revoked, saying new evidence shows he poses a “grave danger” to the community.