30-year-old Ethan Nordean’s lawyers are asking a federal judge not to send their client to jail because rioters that participated in the January 6 insurrection are reportedly being abused behind bars, according to Law&Crime.
Lawyers for Nordean, who is part of the “Proud Boys,” cited recent reports detailing alleged assaults and poor treatment of Capitol riot defendants by jail guards. The specific article cited by Nordean’s lawyers was published by POLITICO, but has been deleted from the outlet’s website for some reason.
According to Insider, the POLITICO article detailed one defendant’s claim that another defendant “was severely beaten by correctional officers” and is now blind in one eye with a “skull fracture and detached retina.”
The report also states that Nordean claims other accused Capitol rioters have experienced violence and threats from guards.
Nordean’s lawyers say they have personally learned of another Capitol riot defendant who faced abuse from guards at a D.C. facility.
“Guards would snap photographs of the defendant with their phones without his consent, which they appeared to be sharing with other parties through their phones,” Nordean’s lawyers wrote in their complaint.
