Jury selection begins in trial of Volusia Proud Boys leader in Capitol attack

Jury selection begins today in Washington D.C. for a Volusia County Proud Boys leader who is among four members of the group being tried in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Joseph Biggs, who is a resident of unincorporated Volusia County near Ormond Beach, was indicted on seditious conspiracy and other charges in the attack. The seditious conspiracy charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison.

Biggs has been held in federal custody while awaiting trial.

The trial begins today with jury selection, and testimony is not expected to begin until Jan. 3.

Biggs’s role in the attack was the focus of chilling testimony by U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards during one of the Jan. 6, 2021 hearings. She testified that Biggs aimed the mob’s ire at law enforcement, making the officers out to be villains.

She said initially Biggs and some other Proud Boys focused on Congress but that changed once some Arizona Proud Boys arrived.

Officer Edwards said it was Biggs who led the rioters facing off against police at a bike rack at the Peace Circle near the northwest corner of the Capitol grounds.

“And once they joined that group, Joseph Biggs’ rhetoric turned to the Capitol Police,” Edwards said. “He started asking us questions like, ‘You didn’t miss a paycheck during the pandemic,’ mentioning stuff about, our pay scale was mentioned, and started turning the tables on us. “

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Biggs and his fellow Proud Boys along with other rioters stormed past outnumbered police and invaded the Capitol, forcing a temporary halt to the certification of the electoral votes by a joint session of Congress.

Besides the seditious conspiracy charge, Biggs was also indicted on conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties.

Indicted along with Biggs on the charges were Enrique Tarrio of Miami, the group’s former national chairman; Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Washington; Zachary Rehl, 36, of Philadelphia and Dominic Pezzola, 44, of Philadelphia.

Biggs, Tarrio, Nordean, Rehl and Pezzola were also charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, civil disorder and aiding and abetting, two counts of destruction of government property and aiding and abetting and two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers.

Pezzola was also accused of taking a riot shield from a police officer and using the shield to smash a window into the Capitol. The smashed window became the entryway for the first attackers to enter the Capitol, according to the indictment.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jury selection begins in trial of Joe Biggs, Volusia Proud Boys leader