FBI Cited InfoWars While Charging Proud Boys Leader in Capitol Siege. Here’s What ‘Rufio Panman’ Told Alex Jones.

Alex Jones interviews Proud Boy ‘Rufio Panman,’ whose real name is Ethan Nordean. A Washington State man accused of playing a role in the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol has spent a lot of time talking to Alex Jones on InfoWars. The FBI noticed. Ethan Nordean , also known widely on air and online by the pseudonym Rufio Panman , is accused by federal prosecutors of four distinct crimes related to the deadly assault on the legislative seat of government: (1) aiding and abetting injury or depredation against government property; (2) obstructing or impeding an official proceeding; (3) knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; and (4) violent entry and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds. Federal court records say he was arrested Wednesday, Feb. 3, in the Western District of Washington. Embedded in an affidavit prepared by an FBI special agent is a screenshot of Nordean appearing on InfoWars. The affidavit is on file with Nordean’s charging document. ‘Rufio Panman’ is seen in an InfoWars screen capture embedded within a federal court document. The image appears to have been included in the affidavit primarily for identification. The document alleges that Nordean “is the self-described ‘Sergeant of Arms’ of the Seattle Chapter of the Proud Boys,” which the caption embedded in the video seems to support. The image also contains a clear view of Nordean’s face for comparison to other images from the Capitol Complex which federal agents reviewed. InfoWars is not otherwise directly referenced in the affidavit against Nordean. However, the agent notes that the affidavit was prepared to merely establish probable cause and not to include every fact known to the government about Nordean. Prosecutors allege that Nordean’s online “posts prior to January 6, 2021, indicate that he and other Proud Boys members were planning in advance to organize a group that would attempt to overwhelm police barricades and enter the United States Capitol building.” They further noted that Nordean posted on Parler in the days leading up to the siege that he needed help with “safety/protective gear” or “communications equipment” because “things have gotten more dangerous for us this past year.”  Nordean is also said to have posted claims that people were making “war” against the Proud Boys. “And fight we will,” Nordean further said. Nordean blurred the line between the Proud Boys and a government-run law enforcement organization organized pursuant to statute or ordinance and the Proud Boys. “The police are starting to become a problem,” Nordean is quoted as saying.  That bothered him because “we’ve had their back for years,” he said regarding the police. Law&Crime independently reviewed another appearance Nordean made with Alex Jones on InfoWars. During the appearance, host Alex Jones repeatedly played video of Nordean — identified only by his pseudonym Rufio Panman during the broadcast — punching a man at a protest in Portland, Ore., in 2018. The punch was widely reported elsewhere as well . Alex Jones talks with Proud Boy ‘Rufio Panman’ Jones said Panman was participating in a so-called “prayer march”—which Jones also referred to as a “battle ground”—when Jones said Panman (Nordean) was approached by an opponent wielding an “extendable metal baton that can break arms, put out eyes.” Jones suggested the opponent was a “warrior” from Antifa, a “meth head,” a “communist,” and a “globalist minion” who was too weak to withstand Panman’s (Nordean’s) counter-attack. “We salute you; everybody loves you,” Jones said of Panman at the time. Jones also called Panman a “folk hero” who was on the right side of a “good versus evil” battle. Jones claimed the police stood down to allow Panman (Nordean) to fight. He later claimed the police had been given orders to stand down by local politicians. “I’ve been doing this for a little over a year now; um; been to many rallies up and down the west coast, from Seattle to Berkeley,” Panman (Nordean) said. “So, you know, I — it’s — facing Antifa isn’t, uh, unfamiliar to me.  Um, but, the Portland rally last weekend was obviously probably one of the most violent I’ve seen. Um, it’s — you know — as far as the police standing down, none of that should have have happened.  If that would have had happened in Seattle it would have been a whole different story.  The police are a lot better there.  Um, so, you know — I was genuinely worried for the people around me and their safety.” “This a continual problem we’re having, and, like you said, uh, this is a — at least a very soft civil war right now, and if people don’t start to kind of wake up to what’s going on it’s going to progress into something worse,” Panman (Nordean) also said. There have been ongoing clashes between Antifa members and right-wing groups in Portland for several years, Oregon Public Broadcasting recently noted . Jones asked Panman (Nordean) to explain further. Panman (Nordean) said he originally started to go to hot button events to try to “find middle ground” with “these people” — referencing Antifa activists. “You start to kind of develop this — this feeling that these are no longer people who are necessarily Americans, per se, but they’re kind of anti-American, and, you know, you have to separate yourselves from them.” Jones referred to the people Panman (Nordean) was battling as “the enemy” which was engaged in a “war against America.” Jones further said it was impossible to “speak to them as humans” because they only “listen to  your fist smashing into their face.” Panman (Nordean) said more “patriots” needed to “show up in numbers” to such altercations. Video of Panman (Nordean) punching an alleged member of Antifa kept playing over the conversation on a slow-motion loop. “I just love how you giant roundhouse right hook and then shove him down so his head hits the pavement,” Jones said while explaining the video.  “That probably hurt him worse.  God, I gotta love it.  I gotta tell you.  It’s better than a fake Rocky movie.  I mean — I’m sorry. He’s a scumbag, man!  Trying to kill you with a baton!  And he’s a piece of crap . . . it’s just . . . it’s beautiful!” “I appreciate that, Alex,” Panman (Nordean) said. Ethan Nordean, also known as Rufio Panman, punches a man in Portland, Ore. Jones said he didn’t like to “hurt innocent people” but suggested the punch was justified as self defense.  He asked Nordean how “good” it felt. “Violence isn’t great, but justified violence is amazing,” Nordean said.  “You react instinctively.” He said it was a “positive feeling” to “overcome” someone “in the moment.” Panman (Nonrdean) said ANTIFA “had no fighting etiquette” because its members’ tactics could have resulted in innocent people being injured at the protest. “You just have to eliminate them as a threat,” Panman (Nordean) said of the people he was fighting. “Proud Boys did an amazing job,” he later said in a more broad reference to the 2018 events .  “I can’t imagine what would have happened if we weren’t there.” Panman (Nordean) and Jones then went on a tangent to bemoan the concept of “toxic masculinity” and a perceived lack of “feminine” women in America. Jones asked Panman (Nordean) what “stirred” his involvement with the Proud Boys. Panman (Nordean) said he was born and raised in Washington; that he had a “great — good family,” that he was “pretty productive all my life,” and that he has always loved his country.   He said he “got involved with the movement” last May Day (presumably May 1, 2018) because he “was tired of what” he was seeing. He said the “Proud Boys allowed me to network with like-minded men” and that joining the group “was one of the best decisions” he’s “ever made.” He descried his involvement as an “awakening to what’s really going on, desensitizing myself, getting out of that political correctness state of mind.” During the interview, Panman wore black and yellow, the colors of the Proud Boys.  Jones showed images of Panman and others wearing red Donald Trump “Make Ame
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