Federal authorities arrested the founder of “Proud Boys Hawaii” in connection with Wednesday’s siege of the US Capitol, where thousands of protesters stormed the building and interrupted an Electoral College vote count by Congress to certify Joe’s victory. Biden in the presidential election.
The FBI arrested Nicholas “Nick” Robert Ochs at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Oahu on Thursday night after his return from Washington DC A criminal complaint filed in federal court in the District of Columbia accused him of “illegal entry into buildings or restricted terrain. ”
Ochs could not be reached for comment. His lawyer, Myles Breiner, said he is in custody at the Honolulu Federal Detention Center and COVID-19 as a precautionary measure. He was negative for the new coronavirus.
Ochs’s first telephone appearance in the federal court in Honolulu is scheduled for Monday before Judge Wes Reber Porter.
Ochs is a founding member of a Hawaii division of the “Proud Boys”, an extreme right-wing group.
A federal statement in support of the criminal complaint filed today in the District of Columbia federal court said that some members of the Proud Boys defended violent actions due to Trump’s false allegations about the election.
Ochs flew to Washington DC to attend a rally, said Breiner. He noted that Ochs has no criminal history and did not threaten anyone, was involved in any damage to criminal property and was not in possession of any weapons on Capitol Hill.
He is also a member of the “Murder the Media” group. On Thursday, another member of the group posted on a social networking site: “Our journalist Nick Ochs was apparently arrested in Hawaii for covering the ‘Stop the Steal’ event in DC”
Breiner said he did not support the Capitol riot. “I don’t approve of what happened. I want to make that clear, ”he said. Breiner blames President Donald Trump for encouraging his supporters to act inappropriately. “Trump created this environment and people like my client, Mr. Ochs, are paying the price,” he added.
A crowd of protesters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday during a joint session of Congress to count electoral votes. Some protesters “pushed barricades and pushed police officers out of the way to enter the building, while others climbed walls and smashed windows,” according to the federal statement.
Members of Congress temporarily suspended the joint session and evacuated the chambers until the law could protect the building. Congress resumed counting that night and claimed Biden’s victory in the election on Thursday.
At 11:13 am (Hawaii time) on Wednesday, Ochs tweeted a photo of himself inside the Capitol smoking a cigarette. The caption read: “Hello from the Capital (sic) lol.”
Ochs told a CNN reporter, “We didn’t have to break in, I just went in and filmed.”
He added: “There were thousands of people there – they had no control over the situation. I was not stopped or questioned. “
CNN reported that Ochs claimed he was working as a professional journalist when he entered the Capitol and that he did not enter any of the chambers or offices of Congress.
Hello from the capital rs pic.twitter.com/H1Axdou708
– Hawaii dictator elects Nick Ochs (@OchsForHawaii) January 6, 2021
The siege that rocked the nation resulted in the deaths of five people.
US Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick suffered injuries while physically engaging protesters when he responded to the riots. The US Capitol Police Department said that when he returned to his division’s office, he passed out. Sicknick was taken to a local hospital, where he died of injuries on Thursday.
Capitol police fatally shot the 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt building in Huntington, Maryland. A viewer video shows Babbitt trying to climb a broken window from a barricaded door when an officer fired.
Three people identified as Rosanne Boyland, from Kennesaw, Georgia, 34; Kevin Greeson, 55, from Athens, Alabama; and Benjamin Phillips, 50, of Ringtown, Pennsylvania, died of medical emergencies during the riot.
Congressional leaders are pushing for a second impeachment of Trump, accusing him of inciting violence with his baseless allegations of electoral fraud.
Ochs was the vice president of the Trump campaign in Hawaii in 2016.
According to UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl, he attended the University of Hawaii in Manoa, where he graduated in journalism in 2020. His LinkedIn page says he has worked as a freelance writer since 2015.
Ochs ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate in 2020 for the state seat of District 22 of the House, which covers Waikiki and Ala Moana. Adrian Tam, a Democrat, won by a wide margin, with almost 68% of the vote, against 32% of Ochs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ochs Complaint Affidavit Final by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd