In 2021, a Capitol breach was allegedly planned by four members of the right-wing organisation.
For their alleged role in organizing the violence at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, four leaders of the right-wing group Proud Boys were found guilty of seditious conspiracy.
After being found guilty on Thursday by a federal jury in Washington, DC of attempting to obstruct the peaceful transition of presidential power, Chairman Enrique Tarrio, Philadelphia chapter leader Zachary Rehl, Joe Biggs, and Ethan Nordean each face up to 20 years in prison.
A fifth defendant, Dominic Pezzola, a rookie member of the Proud Boys, was charged with conspiracy, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Of felony civil disorder, obstructing Congress, and damaging federal property, all five were found guilty.
Sixth Proud Boy, Jeremy Bertino, entered a guilty plea to less serious charges and admitted that he and his associates wanted to start a “revolution” and prevent Joe Biden from becoming president-elect.
Tarrio, who the prosecution referred to as the “leader of the conspiracy to stop the certification” of Biden as president, wasn’t actually in the Capitol building on January 6 because he had just been detained for having high-capacity rifle magazines and was told to avoid the city until his trial date. But the message he sent from his hotel room in Baltimore the night of the riot, “make no mistake, we did this,” as well as a scheme to gather a mob in Washington and storm government buildings discovered in his email inbox, were used as proof of his guilt.
In messages intercepted by the FBI, the five defendants discussed using “any means necessary,” including force, to keep Trump in office. This, along with their post-riot boasts, were dismissed by defense attorneys as mere “locker room talk.”
The FBI asserts that Tarrio was detained to stop the January 6 activities, and the Proud Boys commander has a long history of serving as a federal informant, giving credence to repeated claims that federal agents-provocateurs incited the incident.
Just 14 individuals, including the four Proud Boys, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy despite the fact that over 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the events of January 6. After some protesters rushed the barricades surrounding the Capitol, the riot, which started as a protest against the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral vote, turned into anarchy.
Four protesters were killed, and former President Donald Trump was impeached – but not found guilty – for allegedly inciting the violence. Despite evidence from inside the building that contradicted the popular portrayal of the day’s events as an armed insurrection, violent clashes between protesters and police did take place.
