Proud Boys leaders ordered jailed ahead of trial for MAGA riots: report

Two leaders of the far-right Proud Boys gang are now being detained ahead of their trial for their roles in the January 6th riots at the United States Capitol building.

As reported by BuzzFeed News' Zoe Tillman, Proud Boys leaders Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs were ordered to go back to jail pending their trials by United States District Judge Timothy Kelly of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

In his ruling, Kelly emphasized the seriousness of the charges facing Nordean and Biggs, whom he said "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."

Kelly's ruling reverses decisions from lower courts that allowed the two men to remain free until their trials.

As Politico notes, Kelly was persuaded to reverse lower court rulings after seeing new evidence showing the two men were central in the planning of the riots, and prosecutors specifically allege that the men schemed to "divide into smaller groups and overwhelm outmatched Capitol Police" upon storming the Capitol.