To show that the Proud Boys did not plan the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, Ethan Nordean’s defense attorney Nicholas D. Smith said he would call as witnesses multiple government informants embedded in the group. One, he said, texted his FBI handler as the barriers blocking the Capitol grounds were being breached, around noon on Jan. 6.
“PB did not do it nor inspire,” the message read. It was “herd mentality,” the informant said.
He said informants from inside the group would also “testify that the march to the Capitol was just for the cameras.” The Proud Boys were being followed that day by a documentary filmmaker.
