Nicholas Ochs (born 1985 or 1986), sometimes Nick Ochs, is an American convicted felon, former U.S. Marine, a 2020 Republican Hawaii House of Representatives candidate, and the founder of the Proud Boys' Hawaii chapter.
After taking part in January 6 United States Capitol attack, he pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal proceeding and was sentenced to four years in prison. He was pardoned on January 20, 2025, by Donald Trump.
In November 2020,[2] Ochs ran as a Republican candidate to represent the Waikiki[4] neighborhood in the Hawaii House of Representatives.[1] He won the primary but lost the general election[2] to Democratic candidate Adrian Tam.[5] During the election, Ochs's campaign page was removed from Facebook for breaching the company's terms of service.[5] Ochs won 29.7% of the vote, Tam won 63%.[6] Ochs's campaign was endorsed by Roger Stone.[7]
Ochs is a high ranking "elder" of the Proud Boys right wing neo-fascist organization.[2] In 2021 during the January 6 United States Capitol attack, Ochs threw smoke bombs at police officers and trespassed into the United States Capitol where he smoked cigarettes.[3] The same day, he posted a photograph in front of the words "Murder the Media".[1]
In September 2022, Ochs pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal proceeding in a joint prosecution with Nicolas DeCarlo.[3] During his court appearance, Ochs claimed he was a journalist.[2] In December 2022, he was fined $5,000, and sentenced to four years in prison, and three years of supervised release.[3][8] In November 2024, his conviction was vacated following the Supreme Court's decision in Fischer v. United States, and he was released pending a new trial.[9] On January 16, 2025, he and co-defendent Nicholas DeCarlo were re-indicted on nine counts in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[10] He was pardoned on January 20, 2025, by Donald Trump.[11]