Bail revoked for Proud Boys leaders charged in Capitol riot

Two leaders of the right-wing Proud Boys organization had their bail revoked on Monday after a federal judge said new evidence presented by prosecutors detailed their leadership roles in the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

Politico reported that Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, revoked bail for Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs, contending the new evidence showed the two men had organized members of their group who later participated in the riot that overtook the U.S. Capitol.

“The defendants stand charged with seeking to steal one of the crown jewels of our country, in a sense, by interfering with the peaceful transfer of power,” said the judge, according to Politico. “It’s no exaggeration to say the rule of law and … in the end, the existence of our constitutional republic is threatened by it.”

The judge’s ruling in D.C. federal court reportedly came in response to evidence that Nordean and Biggs had leadership roles in the Proud Boys that expanded following the arrest of Enrique Tarrio, the organization’s de facto leader, in the days leading up to Jan. 6.

Nordean, according to prosecutors, helped create the group’s tactical strategy for the day of the riot and participated in efforts to hide the group’s text chats from law enforcement.

Prosecutors reportedly added that Biggs was an on-the-ground captain during the insurrection and was a “point of contact” for dozens of the organization’s members who arrived in Washington, D.C., on the day of the attack.

The two defendants are charged with conspiring to stop the certification of the 2020 election and will soon face more serious charges related to their actions the day of the attack, Politico reported.

Nordean and Biggs are among the hundreds of people who have been arrested and charged in connection with the events of Jan. 6, which resulted in five deaths that day, including a Capitol Police officer. Two other officers died by suicide in the following weeks.