4 Proud Boys found guilty of seditious conspiracy on January 6

Four members of the Proud Boys militant group, including former leader Enrique Tarrio, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in Washington, D.C.

The far-right activist gang aided in the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.

Tarrio, along with Proud Boys Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, face maximum prison sentences of 50 years. They were also convicted Thursday on charges including obstructing an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement and destruction of government property. Further charges remain outstanding.

The verdict is still out on Dominic Pezzola of Rochester, N.Y. He too was charged with seditious conspiracy, though a jury continued deliberating on his fate Thursday. Prosecutors accuse the former Marine of using a police shield to smash a window during the siege.

Jurors heard from dozens of witnesses in an extraordinary trial lasting more than three months. Tarrio wasn’t in Washington D.C. when the violence occurred, but helped coordinate Proud Boys’ activities and supported the attack on social media. When it was over, he took credit for the mayhem.

“Make no mistake,” Tarrio wrote online. “We did this.”

Defense attorneys argued there was no plan to attack the Capitol following Trump’s speech outside the White House, where the 45th president falsely insisted the election had been stolen.

Trump told supporters, “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

He lost the election by more than seven million votes.

“These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trump’s army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it,” prosecutor Conor Mulroe told jurors during closing arguments.

When asked to denounce violent right-wing organizations like the Proud Boys during a nationally televised debate, Trump told the group to “Stand back and stand by.”

Tarrio told the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol he regretted failing to cash in on the opportunity the former president presented.

“I wish I would have made a stand back, stand by shirt,” Tarrio said.

He’s the second far-right leader to be convicted of seditious conspiracy in the aftermath of Trump’s defeat. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes was convicted of crimes against his country in November.

Rhodes became the first person in nearly three decades to be imprisoned for seditious conspiracy. Kelly Meggs, the leader of Florida’s Oath Keepers chapter, was convicted of seditious conspiracy as well.

With News Wire Services