“After the arrest of the President of the Proud Boys on January 4, 2021, the Defendant was appointed from within to have ‘powers of war’ and to take the final leadership of the activities of the Proud Boys on January 6, 2021,” wrote prosecutors. in a court filing on Monday arguing to keep Nordean arrested.
“The defendant – dressed all in black, wearing a tactical vest – led the Proud Boys through the use of encrypted communications and military-style equipment, and led them with specific plans to: divide into groups, try to invade the Capitol Building from from as many different points as possible and prevent the Joint Session of the Congress from Certifying the results of the Electoral College “, added the promoters.
As part of its efforts, the group distributed Chinese-made Baofeng multi-radio radio, planned to meet at the Washington Monument at 10 am and intentionally abandoned President Donald Trump’s speech against the election to be in a position to overtake the Capitol, prosecutors said .
“The defendant and his followers were not present in any part of the speech, because listening to the speech was not in their plans,” said the Justice Department lawsuit about Nordean. “While other people who would later participate in the Capitol riot watched former President Trump speak, the Defendant led the members of the Proud Boys in a march around the Capitol and positioned them at an entrance to the Capitol grounds that was guarded by just a handful of members of the Capitol Police. “
In Washington, a federal prosecutor said on Monday that another member of the Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola, ordered a radio from Amazon before January 6 and was trying to make sure it worked at that time.
It was not clear on Monday whether the radio found for the Pezzola case is the same as the Baofeng radios purchased for the larger group, but prosecutor Erik Kenerson said the Justice Department learned of the radio purchase through search warrants. against third parties.
The Proud Boys “were trying to communicate by radio on the day of,” said Kenerson.
Pezzola, from Rochester, New York, faced an audience to decide whether he should be released from prison. Investigators said he picked up a riot shield in the confusion surrounding the Capitol – and in the group’s scheme for the day, he was “a warrior,” Kenerson said in court on Monday.
Pezzola’s defense lawyer tried to distance him from the Proud Boys and argued that he was not violent. The lawyer, Jonathan Zucker, downplayed the importance of the radio and said the evidence of the purchase does not show that Pezzola was receiving or giving orders during the riot. “This falls under the category of, so what?” Zucker said in court. Zucker also downplayed investigators who found a flash drive with instructions on how to build explosives and weapons at Pezzola’s home, saying he had not built a bomb.
Pezzola pleaded not guilty to the charges related to January 6. The judge has yet to rule on his arrest.
The Justice Department also took note on Monday of the Proud Boys’ plan not to wear uniforms or identification colors.
“Mixing and spreading, Defendant [Nordean] and those who followed him on January 6 made it more likely that a Proud Boy – or a duly inspired ‘normie’ – would be able to invade the Capitol and its grounds in such a way that it would interrupt the College Voter Voting Certification, “said the Department of Justice process. ” The defendant understood very well that the men he was leading while passing law enforcement and on Capitol Hill would likely destroy government property, or attempt to do so. “
Prosecutors claimed that Nordean was also outsourcing money and tactical equipment before the turmoil. The new lawsuit documents a series of conversations Nordean reportedly had with people who wanted to donate tactical vests, steel plates, bear apples and, in one instance, $ 1,000 to the Proud Boys for a travel fund before 6 January.