Jan. 6 defendant who posted violent diatribes granted pretrial release

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of Jan. 6 defendant Ryan Nichols, whose violent tirades amid the mob and deployment of OC spray against police landed him in pretrial detention for the last 20 months.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan — who had initially ordered and repeatedly upheld Nichols’ incarceration — said he still considers Nichols a danger to the community, the reason he ordered him jailed in the first place. But he said Nichols’ current confinement at a detention facility in Rappahannock, Va., had made it impossible for him to access digital evidence in the case that he needs to prepare for trial next year.

The result seemed to shock Nichols, who became emotional alongside his lawyer Joseph McBride. The two embraced as they parted ways, planning to return for a Nov. 22 hearing to discuss the terms of Nichols’ release from prison, including strict monitoring provisions and limitations on internet access the judge is expected to impose.

Hogan’s decision appeared borne of a long-running frustration with multiple Jan. 6 defendants’ ability to access evidence and prepare for trial at certain detention facilities. Though some judges have rejected defendants’ complaints as overblown, Hogan found that the Rappahannock facility was particularly ill-suited to handle the massive amounts of video evidence Nichols would need to review before trial.

Hogan rejected a proposal by prosecutors to transfer Nichols to a facility in Lewisburg, Va., which he said had experienced similar issues with access to evidence.

Nichols is one of the most high-profile defendants charged for violence in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. His chilling, livestreamed diatribes before, during and after the attack had been prominently featured by the Jan. 6 select committee and in court.

“We’re not going to have our election or our country stolen. If we find out you politicians voted for it, we’re going to drag your fucking ass through the streets,” Nichols said as he marched to the U.S. Capitol.

Prosecutors say he plotted with a codefendant, Alex Harkrider, to bring weapons to Washington and engage in violence. Hogan agreed in March 2021 that Nichols presented a danger to the community, warranting his pretrial incarceration.

Nichols had originally been housed at a correctional facility in Washington, D.C., but had been transferred to Rappahannock after a violent incident in the jail. Nichols maintains he wasn’t involved in the alleged violence but his attorney said he was placed in solitary confinement and had his belongings taken from him before he was transferred to the other jail.

For months, McBride has filed a series of motions seeking Nichols’ release from pretrial detention. Most recently, he complained that jail officials at the D.C. facility — prior to Nichols’ transfer to Rappahannock — stole a thumb drive that included attorney-client protected evidence he needed to prepare for the trial. McBride alleged that the officials may have passed that information to the government to help disrupt Nichols' defense.

Hogan said there was no evidence to support McBride’s claim that anything sinister had happened and repeatedly rejected McBride’s characterization of the incidents, which both prosecutors and D.C. jail officials rejected.

But Hogan nevertheless agreed that the issues with Nichols’ access to discovery were legitimate and warranted his temporary release from custody ahead of his trial, which has still not been scheduled. Prosecutors urged Hogan to work with the parties and set a date as quickly as possible.