A far-right podcast host who was accused of posting revenge porn and arraigned in Virginia Wednesday for disseminating an image of another woman—a Class 1 misdemeanor—had his case essentially dismissed when the prosecutor declined to move forward on the charges.
Ethan Ralph hosts “Killstream,” a podcast that has hosted, among others, failed neo-Nazi congressional candidate Patrick Little, anti-Semitic broadcaster Ryan Dawson, and white supremacist Lana Lokteff. He was a leader in the misogynist Gamergate campaign, which harassed and doxxed female developers.
In August, an intimate video of Ralph and a woman with whom Ralph was in a relationship was posted on Instagram and Kiwi Farms, an internet messaging board and website known for harassment and reposting the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto. On Dec. 15, Ralph was arrested in Richmond, Virginia, where he resides, for allegedly posting the video.
Ralph was released from jail the same day he was arrested. While Ralph has claimed he did not leak the video, far-right websites and personalities suggest otherwise and accuse him of collecting dirt on friends and women with whom he has relationships.
According to court records, Ralph was arraigned the morning following his arrest and appeared in court the following week. On Feb. 3, his case was transferred from Richmond-Marsh Criminal/Traffic General District Court at Manchester to Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. The woman is now 19, but it is unclear how old she was at the time of the video; the age of consent in Virginia is 18.
At 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, Ralph returned to court, where the case was “nolle prosequi,” meaning the commonwealth's attorney suspended its prosecution. It’s unclear why; often such decisions are the result of a lack of evidence, lack of cooperation from a witness, or the prosecutor’s discretion to give a defendant without a significant record a break. While “nolle prosequi” in Virginia means that the charge can be brought back at a later date—say, if more evidence becomes available—it is highly unusual for that to be the case.
The detective on the case, Alexandra Davila, confirmed that the case had been moved to Richmond’s juvenile and domestic relations district court but declined to comment further. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Kelli Burnett declined to comment specifically on the case in order to protect the privacy of the victim, but she noted that "nolle prosequi" "is not the same as not guilty."
On Twitter Wednesday morning, Ralph rejoiced. “Moments ago, I left a Richmond courthouse where I was exonerated on my recent legal bullshit. It’s over & I’m off probation,” he claimed.
“The charge was completely dropped today because it didn’t hold up … I might fly out to Miami this weekend lmao,” he said in another tweet.
Ralph took to his “Killstream” podcast that evening, where he said he was a “free man for the first time in five years.”
“I don’t want to act like I won the Super Bowl or anything like that, but there is this certain level of satisfaction, when people who have been out for your blood, in some cases literally—taking away your freedom, taking away your life—I mean it’s pretty fucking awesome when you do get over that hump there,” he said.
In December, Ralph took to Twitter to publicly attack the alleged victim, a woman with whom he is due to have a son, as “a liar denounced by her own parents,” claiming that she was jealous of his relationship with another woman. It appears that she has since moved out of state. On the podcast Wednesday, he said he had nothing bad to say about her and added that, “she is pregnant with my child of course, and I want to be involved with that.”
After thanking his lawyer, Ralph went on to thank the state: “Thanks to the state. I have to give props to them for dropping it.” The thank you echoed one he gave Richmond PD after his arrest in December when he gave them a shout-out, adding he “had a great time talking to the officers.”
That arrest wasn’t his first; he served eight months in jail after resisting arrest and attacking a police officer in September 2016. Ralph claimed his probation for that crime was set to end Feb. 2 but would have been extended had his most recent case not been dismissed.
On Wednesday night, Ralph noted that it was a Latino male officer he attacked and claimed that he swung and missed. “It was bullshit from the start. I should’ve never had to do eight months,” Ralph complained. “Cops everywhere have told me that shit.”
