His top role in the Proud Boys — the self-proclaimed leader of its Seattle chapter — made Mr. Nordean easy to identify after breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Mr. Moran wrote in the filing.
Mr. Nordean was arrested Wednesday and remanded to custody. The filing, the U.S. government’s motion in support of pretrial detention, was entered ahead of a hearing on the matter set for Monday.
“The nature and circumstances of the charged offenses weigh heavily in favor of detention,” Mr. Moran wrote on behalf of the U.S. government, adding that Mr. Nodean, “a member of a right-wing militia, knowingly and willfully participated in a riot that was designed to prevent the United States Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 Presidential election.