Sarah Burris is a long-time veteran of political campaigns, having worked as a fundraiser and media director across the United States. She transitioned into reporting while working for Rock the Vote, Future Majority and Wiretap Magazine, covering the Millennial Generation's perspective during the presidential elections. As a political writer, Burris has had bylines at CNN, Salon.com, BNR, and AlterNet and serves as a senior digital editor for RawStory.com.
Accused Jan. 6 attacker and Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean is among those far-right activists who are being denied freedom pending the trial for their involvement in the siege on the U.S. Capitol. After months in jail, Nordean has a lot of demands, including that he be released from jail.
Legal analyst Marcy Wheeler has been posting excerpts from court filings involving Jan. 6 attackers and the Justice Department's responses and Nordean is one person who she has kept an eye on. She recalled a June 2021 filing that may "come back to bite him." That's exactly what happened this week.
U.S. District Court Judge Tim Kelly, an appointee of former President Donald Trump who has been sympathetic to the jail time for Capitol attackers, is presiding over the case. So, when Nordean submitted a filing complaining about how long his case was taking for nothing more than a trespassing charge, Judge Kelly made a point to mention the defendant was making things worse.
The longer things take, the longer the DOJ has to find more and more evidence for further charges. Judge Kelly explained that every time Nordean files a motion in court, he's making things stretch out longer.
This week, Nordean filed another motion, demanding that he be released because things were taking so long. The Justice Department responded by saying that all of his motions are what is holding things up. The list is six pages long.
The list shows that almost every time the government lawyers file something, Nordean files something. Those motions then have to be argued in court and decided by the judge.