Four Proud Boys members found guilty of seditious conspiracy

(Trends Wide) — Four members of the far-right group Proud Boys have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a jury in Washington for their role in forcibly preventing the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

Defendants Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Enrique Tarrio, and Dominic Pezzola face a series of charges, including three separate counts of conspiracy, obstruction of Electoral College voting, and evidence tampering.

The verdict marks the third time prosecutors have won seditious conspiracy convictions in the Justice Department’s historic prosecution of those who stormed the Capitol that day.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the seditious conspiracy charge against Pezzola. Unlike the other defendants in this trial, Pezzola allegedly does not hold a leadership position in the organization and was inactive in Proud Boys chat rooms.

The judge ordered jurors to continue deliberating on Pezzola, as well as other charges against the five defendants on which no verdict was reached.

Tarrio’s conviction is especially significant, even though he was not in Washington on January 6. According to the indictment, the Proud Boys leader helped create a command structure within the Proud Boys in the days leading up to January 6. The text and signal messages highlighted in the indictment suggest that Tarrio was preparing a “revolution” and reviewed documents that laid out a plan to occupy some “crucial buildings” in Washington, including the House office buildings. Representatives and the Senate around the Capitol.

Tarrio was arrested on January 4 for bringing high-capacity rifle magazines into Washington and ordered to leave the city.

Prosecutors exposed with messages and videos posted by the defendants and other members of the group the case that the Proud Boys, encouraged by Trump and his electoral lies after the 2020 defeat, began calling for violence and revolution against the incoming presidency. from Biden.

Members of the group viewed Biden and others on the left as a threat to the country, according to prosecutors, and sent messages to each other about the need for “war,” “revolution” and firing squads for traitors.

On January 6, 2021, according to prosecutors, many of the defendants did not attend Trump’s speech that day, but instead began a march to the Capitol.

The Proud Boys were in the front lines of the mob on the Capitol grounds and were there when the first barriers were broken. Prosecutors allege that the group’s leaders stirred up the members and communicated with them, using hand signals, to get them to move on.

After rioters reached the gates of the Senate wing of the Capitol building, Pezzola used a police riot shield he had stolen during the attack to break a window, according to prosecutors, through which rioters entered the Capitol. .

Defense attorneys argue that their clients never had a plan to storm the Capitol and stop electoral college voting that day. The messages and videos show nothing more than stupid and vulgar rhetoric, defense attorneys said, hardly a seditious conspiracy against the US government.

The trial, which often teetered between legal battles, disputes over evidence, sealed hearings, countless mistrial petitions and several shouting matches with the judge, concluded Tuesday with closing arguments from defense attorneys and federal prosecutors.

During the trial, jurors heard testimony from multiple officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, as well as from FBI agents who investigated the Proud Boys and testimony from several members of the Proud Boys, including two of the defendants, none of whom said there was ever a specific plan to take over the Capitol.

Countless delays, caused by new evidence and informants, a juror who believed he was being followed, and infighting among lawyers, caused a trial that was originally scheduled to last five to seven weeks dragged on for four years. months.