{"id":25247,"date":"2023-05-05T06:30:57","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T10:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=25247"},"modified":"2023-05-05T06:30:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T10:30:57","slug":"four-proud-boys-guilty-in-major-us-capitol-riot-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/05\/05\/four-proud-boys-guilty-in-major-us-capitol-riot-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Proud Boys guilty in major US Capitol riot case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Five members of the far-right Proud Boys, including former leader Enrique Tarrio, face decades in prison after being found guilty for their role in the January 6 US Capitol riot.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Four were convicted of seditious conspiracy, and all five were found guilty of obstructing official proceedings, alongside other felonies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The most serious charges carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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More than 100 members of the far-right, all-male group joined the Capitol riot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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All five defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to prevent officials from discharging their duties, impeding officers during civil disorder, and destruction of a fence protecting the Capitol.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A mistrial was declared on a total of 10 charges against the men where the jury failed to come to a conclusion, after a complex trial that took nearly four months – more than twice as long as planned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Proud Boys were steadfast supporters of Donald Trump who marched several times in Washington DC after the 2020 election, often clashing with far-left anti-fascists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Their protests culminated on 6 January 2021, as the election results were due to be certified by Congress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Unlike his co-defendants, former Proud Boy chairman\u00a0Henry “Enrique” Tarrio<\/b>\u00a0was not in Washington that day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He was arrested two days before for previously burning a Black Lives Matter banner and weapons charges. He was ordered by a judge to leave the city and ended up watching events from a hotel room in nearby Baltimore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Tarrio’s co-defendants included\u00a0Ethan Nordean<\/b>, 31, of Washington state, who goes by the alias “Rufio Panman”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Nordean was active in Proud Boy street protests and brawls with anti-fascist activists in the Pacific Northwest. In video from 6 January, he was seen leading members of the group around the Capitol along with co-defendant\u00a0Joe Biggs<\/b>, 38, of Florida, a US Army veteran and former broadcaster for Alex Jones’s Infowars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Zachary Rehl<\/b>, 36, a former US Marine and leader of the Philadelphia branch of the Proud Boys, was also part of a group that stormed the building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A fifth defendant, 44-year-old\u00a0Dominic Pezzola<\/b>\u00a0of Rochester, New York, was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy.<\/p>\n

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Pezzola, also a former US Marine and at the time a relatively recent recruit to the group, took a riot shield from police officer and smashed a window. He was one of the first people inside the building and lit a cigar in celebration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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However, while testifying in his own defence he said he was acting alone and had not met his co-defendants prior to that day. He was convicted of assaulting a police officer while taking the riot shield, while the others were found not guilty on that charge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rehl also testified in his own defence, but the others did not take the stand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Evidence of planning<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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In court, prosecutors introduced a large volume of text messages, social media posts and videos to prove that the group’s actions amounted to a co-ordinated plot to try to stop the certification of the 2020 election result.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Proud Boys repeatedly posted a number of violent threats online. For instance, in November 2020, Tarrio wrote on a post by Joe Biden: “YOU need to remember the American people are at war with YOU. No Trump\u2026 No peace. No quarter.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Others posted about civil war, firing squads and “traitors”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The trial was delayed by slow jury selection, motions for mistrial by defence lawyers, numerous arguments over witnesses and evidence, and concerns about possible juror intimidation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lawyers for the defendants argued that the group was poorly organised, mostly non-violent, and that there was no preconceived plan to storm the building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They also noted that Tarrio, a long-time police informant, was in touch with Washington DC police before 6 January and informed an officer of the group’s plans for the day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In closing arguments lawyers for the defendants placed the blame on Mr Trump, saying they merely followed his suggestion to show up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“‘Be there, it’s going to be wild,’ the commander-in-chief said. And so they did,” said Norm Pattis, an attorney for Biggs, referencing one of Mr Trump’s tweets.<\/p>\n

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Under US law,\u00a0seditious conspiracy is defined<\/a>\u00a0as a plot to overthrow the government or use force “to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It is a rarely used law that dates from the US Civil War. Last year two leaders of the Oath Keepers – one of the other major organised groups present at the Capitol riot – were convicted in the first successful prosecution for seditious conspiracy since 1995. Three other members of that militia were acquitted of the charge during last year’s trial.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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