Trump commutes sentence for Auburn man’s role in Jan. 6 Capitol breach

Ethan Nordean, 34, of Auburn, had his 18-year sentence commuted by President Donald Trump.

According to a White House Proclamation on Jan. 20 while on his first day in office, Trump commuted Nordean’s 18-year prison sentence for his offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Nordean was among 13 others whose sentences were commuted.

“This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation,” Trump said in the proclamation.

Trump granted clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged in the insurrection.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, as of Jan. 21, Nordean is still being held at FCI Coleman Medium — a medium security federal correctional institution. His release date is set as “unknown.”

According to the proclamation, Trump directed the attorney general to pursue dismissal with prejudice to the government of all pending indictments against individuals for their conduct related to the events at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

According to a Sept. 1, 2023 Office of Public Affairs news release, Nordean was a former leader of the Proud Boys organization and was sentenced for multiple felony charges related to his role in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The news release said that their actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes necessary to certify the 2020 presidential election.

According to the news release, Nordean’s charges included obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent members of Congress or federal officers from discharging their duties. It noted that Nordean was previously convicted of seditious conspiracy.

According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, the Proud Boys organization had played a significant and often violent role in prior Washington, D.C. rallies in November and December 2020. In the aftermath of that violent conduct, Nordean and other co-defendants served as members and leaders of a special chapter of the Proud Boys known as the “Ministry of Self-Defense.”

Beginning after Dec. 19, 2020, Nordean and other co-defendants conspired to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States, according to the news release.

In the days leading to Jan. 6, Nordean and other leaders of the Ministry of Self-Defense hand-selected co-defendants known as “rally boys” to participate in the attack on the Capitol that day. This group established a chain of command, chose a time and place for their attack, and recruited others who would follow their top-down leadership and who were prepared to engage in physical violence if necessary.

On Jan. 6, Nordean and others he led participated in every consequential breach at the Capitol. The defendants directed and mobilized a group of Proud Boys onto the Capitol grounds, leading to the dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the Capitol building and assaults on law enforcement, according to the news release.

The group began their assault that day at 10 a.m. when Nordean and others marched nearly 200 individuals away from speeches at the Ellipse directly toward the Capitol. They arrived at the First Street gate at 12:50 p.m. Nordean and other co-defendants led their recruits up the First Street walkway, breaching multiple barricades and tearing down fencing.

Nearly an hour later, when law enforcement appeared to have successfully controlled the crowd by pushing them back, the men again pushed forward. Nordean and others gathered at the base of the concrete stairs that led to the doors and windows of the Capitol with many of their co-conspirators and other men they had led to the Capitol. The group again surged toward the Capitol and overwhelmed officers who had been battling the crowd for nearly an hour.

During the hearing, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly applied the enhancement for a federal crime of terrorism to the defendant’s conviction for the destruction of government property.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The charges in the investigation are the result of significant cooperation between agents and staff across numerous FBI Field Offices and law enforcement agencies.