NJ Proud Boys leader gets year in prison for coaxing mob during Jan. 6 riot

Shawn Price, vice president of the Proud Boys' North Jersey chapter, was sentenced to a year and one day in federal prison for his admitted role in rallying other rioters to repeatedly rush police blockades during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Price, 28, pleaded guilty in October to one count of interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, a felony that could have netted him five years behind bars. But prosecutors recommended a reduced sentence for the admitted pro-Trump radical from Rockaway Township after he cooperated with the Justice Department's investigation into his and others' attempts to keep then-President Donald Trump in power.

In January 2021, Price traveled to Washington with as many as a dozen Proud Boys from the North Jersey chapter, court records show. Joined by four or five members of his group, Price took what he later described as a leading role in efforts to overtake the Capitol Complex and prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to the records.

During the deadly melee, Price shouted "Let's go!" as he joined a mob of rioters thrusting against a group of police stationed on one of the building's terraces, according to footage he recorded that day and statements from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Later, at the same terrace, he rallied several Proud Boys to rush officers when they arrived to aid other police whose thin blue line grew ever thinner as the roiling crowd threatened to overpower the paltry garrison. That night, Price boasted online that he had "led the storm," the U.S. Attorneys' Office said.

He was arrested on June 8, 2021, and faced trial in Washington, D.C., District Court had he not ironed out a deal with attorneys in exchange for assisting with the Justice Department's probe.

The Proud Boys were founded in 2016 by former Vice Magazine editor Gavin McInnes for the purpose of supporting "western chauvinist" values, he has said, which the U.S. Attorney's Office described as an unwillingness among its male members "to apologize for creating the modern world."

However, the FBI has been more brusque in its description of the group, declaring it an "extremist group with ties to White Nationalism," according to a report from a Washington state sheriff's office, USA Today has reported.

Although McInnes resigned from the organization that same year, he continues to support it, denying its reputation as a militant far-right alliance, even suing the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2019 for officially declaring the Proud Boys a hate group.

Meanwhile, the outfit continued to curry favor with the former president, leading to an infamous moment during a 2020 presidential debate when Trump publicly called upon the organization to "stand back and stand by."

Since the Capitol attack, a House Select Committee presented communications from Proud Boy members, alleging they, along with other far-right militias, had planned the violent, but failed, coup.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Capitol riot sentences: Rockaway NJ Shawn Price of Proud Boys gets year