‘Proud Boys Hawaii’ founder Nicholas Ochs ordered to yield passport

A federal magistrate judge ordered the founder of Proud Boys Hawaii accused of participating in the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol to surrender his passport.

A remote hearing was held Friday for Nicholas Robert “Nick” Ochs, 34, before U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey at federal court in the District of Columbia on a misdemeanor charge for unlawful entry into restricted buildings or grounds.

Under the new conditions of his release, Harvey ruled that Ochs must surrender his passport and stay out of Washington, D.C., except for court purposes.

If he fails to comply with the conditions, a warrant can be issued for his arrest. When Harvey asked whether he understood the conditions, Ochs said, “I understand, your honor.”

A remote preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 5.

Ochs is currently under COVID-19 quarantine at his apartment since being released Monday from the Honolulu Federal Detention Center on a $5,000 unsecured bond. Under conditions set earlier this week by the federal court in Honolulu, Ochs is not allowed to travel outside Oahu except for court purposes.

He faces up to a year in prison for the unlawful-entry charge, if convicted.

His attorney, Myles Breiner, said in an interview last week with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he anticipates other charges will potentially be filed against Ochs but declined to elaborate.

A mob of rioters breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as members of Congress finalized the Electoral College vote count of President-elect Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump in the election. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died as a result of the insurrection.

That day, Ochs tweeted a photo of himself inside the Capitol grinning and smoking a cigarette. The caption said, “Hello from the Capital lol.” In an interview with CNN, Ochs said, “We didn’t have to break in. I just walked in and filmed.”

Ochs also told CNN, “There were thousands of people in there — they had no control of the situation. I didn’t get stopped or questioned.”

He reportedly told the network he was working as a professional journalist and did not enter any of the congressional chambers or offices.

The House Periodical Press Gallery, which is in charge of administering congressional press passes, said the office has never issued Ochs a credential.

On Wednesday the U.S. House impeached Trump on a single charge of “incitement of insurrection.” Before the violent siege a rally was held at the Ellipse in Washington, where Trump repeated baseless claims of election fraud as Congress was finalizing the electoral votes to confirm Biden’s victory.

Trump made statements that “encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore,’” the House said in the four-page impeachment resolution.

Ochs is the founder of a Hawaii chapter of Proud Boys Hawaii, a far-right extremist group.

He is also a member of “Murder the Media,” a right-wing streaming outlet. A photo taken on the day of the riot shows Ochs and another man inside the Capitol building in a thumbs-up pose next to a door with the words “Murder the Media” scrawled on it.

It was not immediately clear who vandalized the door.

The FBI arrested Ochs on Jan. 7 at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport upon his return from Washington. Federal agents matched a photo Ochs tweeted of himself inside the Capitol on the day of the riot to photos he previously posted on Twitter for his bid in the state House District 22 race.

Twitter suspended his @OchsForHawaii account earlier this week.

In 2020 Ochs unsuccessfully ran as a Republican candidate for the state House District 22 seat, which covers Waikiki and Ala Moana.

He served in the Marine Corps from 2011 to 2018 and was last assigned as a corporal with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division at Kaneohe Bay, according to the Manpower &Reserve Affairs office in Virginia.