2 Capitol rioters who threw smoke bombs at police and wrote 'murder the media' on a door have pleaded guilty for their involvement on January 6
- Two men pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding in relation to the Capitol riot.
- Prosecutors said Nicholas Ochs and Nicholas DeCarlo threw smoke bombs into a line of officers.
Two men pleaded guilty related to their actions during the January 6 Capitol riot, the Justice Department announced on Friday.
The two men — Nicholas Ochs from Hawaii and Nicholas DeCarlo from Texas — were photographed at the riot posing next to a "murder the media" scrawling graffitied on a Capitol door, court documents say. They also threw smoke bombs at police on the scene, according to prosecutors.
Ochs, 36, is the founding member of the Hawaii Proud Boys chapter and he traveled from Honolulu to Washington, DC, to participate in the riot, according to prosecutors. He shared a hotel room with DeCarlo, 32, and together they "marched" to the Capitol on January 6 last year.
"They arrived at the West Front, near scaffolding in place for the inauguration," prosecutors said. "A line of police was attempting to keep the mob from the inaugural stage. Both men threw smoke bombs at the police line."
Then they both breached the Capitol building through the Senate chamber doors, where they roamed around for about 40 minutes before exiting.
Upon leaving, they paused at one of the doors to the building, and DeCarlo wrote: "murder the media" on the door with a marker, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said, "Murder the Media" was also the name of the men's social media channel.
The Capitol riot left five people, including one police officer, dead. Members of the Proud Boys, which is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were also present.
Organizers were emboldened by former President Donald Trump's urges to protest the results of the 2020 election with him, despite Democrat Joe Biden's election victory.
In February, insurrectionists scrambled to delete photos and social-media posts proving their participation in the Capitol riot. Some broke their cellphones, scrubbed their social media accounts, and tried to wipe hard drives that might contain photos and other proof of their involvement.
But others boasted of their involvement, making it easier for the FBI to catch and charge them.
So far, more than 910 people have been charged in connection with the insurrection, according to Insider's database.