Hawaii Proud Boys Founder Pleads Guilty To Role In Jan. 6 Riot
Nicholas Ochs faces up to 20 years in prison for the charge of obstruction of an official proceeding.
Nicholas Ochs, who founded the Hawaii chapter of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, pleaded guilty to a felony charge Friday in federal court for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington D.C.
After attending the 鈥淪top The Steal鈥 rally featuring then-president Donald Trump, Ochs, 36, marched to the U.S. Capitol, threw smoke bombs at police and illegally entered the seat of Congress as it was certifying President Joe Biden鈥檚 election win, .
He was joined by Nicholas DeCarlo, 32, of Fort Worth, Texas. Their sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 9. Both men face up to 20 years in prison, as well as potential financial penalties, for obstruction of an official proceeding.
Ochs’ lawyer聽Edward MacMahon said after the hearing that his client did not injure anyone at the Capitol and he hopes Ochs is sentenced consistent with others who did not participate in any violence, according to The Associated Press.
Ochs traveled from Honolulu to Washington, D.C. for Trump鈥檚 rally, during which Trump聽urged supporters to 鈥溾 or we鈥檙e 鈥渘ot going to have a country anymore.鈥
On the way to the Capitol, Ochs claimed the election was being stolen and that the men were 鈥済oing to stop it.鈥澛燭he men smoked cigarettes and recorded themselves walking through the building for nearly 40 minutes, the Department of Justice said.
In that time, Ochs took and posted a photo of himself with the caption 鈥淗ello from the Capital lol.鈥 He also recorded DeCarlo writing 鈥淢urder the media鈥 on a Capitol door, a reference to their social media channel.
As they left, Ochs recorded himself saying: 鈥渟orry we couldn鈥檛 go live when we stormed the f—-in鈥 U.S. Capitol and made Congress flee.鈥
Ochs was arrested the following day in Honolulu. DeCarlo was apprehended later that month in Texas. DeCarlo also pleaded guilty on Friday.
is an organization of self-described 鈥淲estern Chauvinists鈥 who have promoted white nationalism, misogyny and Islamaphobia.
The group was instrumental in the , law enforcement and congressional investigators have found, and more than 40 of its members have been criminally charged, including for seditious conspiracy. Ochs met with other Proud Boys inside the Capitol on the day of the insurrection.
Ochs is a University of Hawaii graduate who as a Republican for a Hawaii state representative seat in 2020.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the District of Columbia with assistance from the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office in Hawaii and the FBI鈥檚 Honolulu Field Office, among other law enforcement entities.
In the 20 months since the breach of the Capitol, more the 970 individuals have been arrested in almost every state for crimes related to the insurrection, including more than 265 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the DOJ.
鈥淭he investigation remains ongoing,鈥 the agency said.
