Fort Worth man who wrote ‘Murder the Media’ at Capitol sentenced in Jan. 6 riot

Archiebald Browne
·3 min read
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The Fort Worth man who wrote the phrase “Murder the Media” on the doors of the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to four years in prison along with a Proud Boys “elder,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Nicholas DeCarlo, 32, of Fort Worth, pleaded guilty on Sept. 9 in Washington, D.C., to obstruction of an official proceeding. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release, the DOJ said in a release Friday.

Nicholas Ochs, 36, of Honolulu, traveled with DeCarlo on Jan. 5 before the insurrection. He also pleaded guilty with DeCarlo and faces the same sentence.

DeCarlo is ordered to pay a $2,500 fine, $2,000 in restitution and a $100 assessment. Ochs is ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, $2,000 in restitution and a $100 assessment, according to the DOJ.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Texas and the District of Hawaii assisted in the case.

Ochs is the founder of the Hawaii chapter of the Proud Boys, according to court documents.

As of Jan. 6, 2021, the DOJ said, Ochs also was an “elder” within the Proud Boys. The elders have senior leadership roles with responsibilities including approval of new chapters.

According to the DOJ, the two stayed at a hotel in Virginia, and attended a rally at the Ellipse on Jan 6., when they marched to the Capitol with other rioters.

They arrived at the West Front near scaffolding for the inauguration, where both threw smoke bombs at a line of police trying to keep rioters away from the inaugural stage. Both then climbed the stairs to the Upper West Terrace, according to the DOJ.

DeCarlo and Ochs climbed the stairs to the Upper West Terrace, where at 2:23 p.m., they illegally entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing Doors, according to the DOJ. The two filmed themselves smoking cigarettes in the Crypt, and went through the Capitol Visitor’s Center, East Foyer, Statuary Hall and the Rotunda before leaving at 3 p.m.

Next, they went to the Chestnut-Gibson Memorial Door to the Capitol. That’s where DeCarlo wrote “Murder the Media” with a marker on the door as Ochs recorded, the DOJ said.

The phrase was the name of the men’s social media channel.

DeCarlo and Ochs also looted a U.S. Capitol Police duffel bag by the Memorial Door. DeCarlo took a pair of plastic handcuffs and left the Capitol.

With the building visible behind him in the video, Ochs said, “Sorry we couldn’t go live when we stormed the (expletive) U.S. Capitol and made Congress flee,” according to the DOJ.

Since Jan. 6, 2021, about 900 people have been arrested in almost all states for crimes related to the insurrection. Over 280 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

The investigation into the riot continues.