Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean: FBI

Staff Report –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Eleven months after the violent attack on the United States Capitol on Jan. 6 by fired up Trump supporters that came harrowingly close to stopping a peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice are still tracking down perpetrators of the insurrection inspired by anti-democratic rhetoric from the president and commander-in-chief.

Two men linked to Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean who were among the first perpetrators to breach police barricades that day were arrested and charged this week, according to unsealed charging documents.

Ronald Loehrkeat the Capitol insurrection: FBI

James Haffner, 53, of South Dakota, and Ronald Loehrke, 30, of Georgia, were arrested and charged this week with felony civil disorder. Haffner was also charged with assaulting or impeding officers with an aerosol spray, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

James Haffner at the Capitol insurrection: FBI

An FBI affidavit alleged that before Jan. 6, Nordean texted Loehrke saying he wanted Loehrke on “the front line” with him. Loehrke replied, “Sounds good man,” and indicated that he would bring three others with him, the FBI says.

The agency identified Haffner partly through a social media post by his wife on Aug. 7 that included a photograph of the couple and a third person whose image was redacted but his wife identified in a caption as Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who was in South Dakota that week for a bus and motorcycle ride through the state coinciding with the Sturgis motorcycle rally.

Loehrke and Haffner allegedly marched with a group of Proud Boys led by Nordean to the Capitol. The pair joined a crowd that overran a pedestrian barrier shortly after 1 p.m., breached the building’s West Plaza and stood at the front of a crowd confronting a single line of riot police, before dismantling police barricades on the east side, the FBI said.

“Don’t back down, patriots! … The whole … world is watching. Stand … up!” Loehrke exhorted with expletives to a crowd who he said were only “stopped by 25 officers” at one point, charging papers show.

The FBI said Haffner sprayed police guarding the Columbus doors shortly before they were breached by a crowd that poured into the Capitol Rotunda. The FBI included images that investigators allege show Loehrke wearing a plaid jacket, maroon hoodie, and a baseball cap with a red “Cummins Oil” logo, and Haffner with a dark hoodie, red cap, and long beard. Both pictured men wore dark glasses.

The FBI said it identified Loerhke partly through a video taken Jan. 6 outside of a downtown hotel of a person wearing matching clothing and a similar right-hand tattoo with the word “stay” on the knuckles and the outline of a rose. Haffner was traced through airline, hotel and payment records, his South Dakota driver’s license, as well as the photograph, which showed Haffner standing next to two women whose heads were covered by a black rectangular redaction box, the FBI says.

“Sidney FRICKIN’ Powell!! What an awesome experience getting to meet her and her team! #SidneyPowell #releasethekraken #TrumpTrain #sturgisrally,” Haffner’s wife commented next to a photo of three people standing in front of a campaign-style bus bearing the logos of “Women for Trump” and the photos of President Donald Trump, conservative commentator Candace Owens and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), according to charging papers. The bus appears to be the same one that Powell was photographed with during her South Dakota trip, and the person Haffner’s wife referred to as Powell is wearing a black biking vest and bracelet similar to what the latter was photographed wearing the following day, although with a different colored shirt and pants.

Haffner was arrested in Pennington County in South Dakota and appeared in federal court Wednesday.

Loehrke was arrested in Cumming, Ga., on Thursday and made an initial appearance Friday, when the case was unsealed. Court-appointed lawyers who initially represented the men did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday evening.

More Arrests and Charges

Josiah Kenyon at the Capitol insurrection: FBI

In other arrests this week, a Nevada man has been arrested for assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous weapon and other crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted a joint session of Congress that was in the process of counting the electoral votes in the presidential election of 2020.

Josiah Kenyon, 34, of Winnemucca, Nevada, is charged with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon, among other charges. He was arrested on Dec. 1, 2021, in Reno, Nevada, and made his initial appearance in the District of Nevada. He remains detained pending further court proceedings, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to court documents, Kenyon was in the Capitol from approximately 2:53 p.m. until 3:18 p.m., near a Senate Wing door and the Crypt of the building. He later joined a crowd outside at the Lower West Terrace. Kenyon was wearing a “Jack Skellington” costume, based on a character from the movie, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

During the rioting, he and others damaged an exterior window of the building. Kenyon first attempted to break the window with a closed fist, followed by several attempts with a flag staff.

Later, he used several objects, including what appeared to be a table leg with a protruding nail, to assault law enforcement officers who were attempting to protect the building. Additionally, according to the documents, he threw an unknown object and what appears to be a large, hard plastic pylon towards officers.

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Kenyon as #94 in its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the Reno Resident Agency of the FBI’s Las Vegas Field Office, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Reno, Nevada, the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

Also, a Pennsylvania man has been charged with assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous weapon and other crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Howard Charles Richardson at the Capitol insurrection: FBI

Howard Charles Richardson, 71, of King of Prussia, is charged with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon, among other charges. Richardson surrendered in Philadelphia and made his initial court appearance in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

According to court documents, video footage depicts Richardson in a group near the bicycle rack-style barricades outside the Capitol. At approximately 1:38 p.m., carrying a metal flagpole with a blue flag attached, he approached an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, who was part of the law enforcement personnel protecting the Capitol. In the video, Richardson can be heard yelling, “here it comes,” before swiftly approaching the officer’s position and striking the officer with the flagpole three times.

He only stopped swinging after the flagpole broke in his hands.

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The case is being investigated by the Fort Washington Resident Agency of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Richardson as #362 in its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department, the Upper Merion Township, Pa., Police Department, and the U.S. Capitol Police.

A Michigan man was also arrested this week for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Justin Jersey at the Capitol insurrection: FBI

Justin Jersey, 31, of Flint, is charged with federal offenses that include assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and inflicting bodily injury, civil disorder, and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, among other charges. Jersey was arrested in Flint and made his initial court appearance in the Eastern District of Michigan. He was detained pending further court proceedings in the District of Columbia, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Jersey was named as an additional defendant in a third superseding indictment returned in the District of Columbia in a case that previously included seven other defendants: Logan James Barnhart, of Lansing, Michigan; Michael John Lopatic Sr., of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Ronald Colton McAbee, of Unionville, Tennessee; Clayton Ray Mullins, of Benton, Kentucky; Jeffrey Sabol, of Kittredge, Colorado; Peter Francis Stager, of Conway, Arkansas, and Jack Wade Whitton, of Locust Grove, Georgia.

All are charged with assaulting law enforcement and related offenses. The superseding indictment adds civil disorder charges against Sabol and Whitton.

According to the indictment, Jersey, at approximately 4:27 p.m., participated in an assault of a Metropolitan Police Department officer, then armed himself with a baton, which he used to strike at other MPD officers.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Jersey as #106 in its seeking information photos, as well as the Flint Resident Agency of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. Significant assistance has been provided in the investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Capitol Police, and other FBI field offices.

In the 10 months since Jan. 6, more than 675 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 210 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.