'Stand back and stand by:' Volusia County Proud Boys leader on trial for sedition in D.C.

Update: This story has been updated to include information from the U.S. Army regarding Joe Biggs' military service.

Joseph Randall Biggs, a Volusia County Proud Boys leader charged with seditious conspiracy and other crimes, is among five members of the far-right extremist Proud Boys currently on trial for offenses committed during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol that sent lawmakers seeking shelter and interrupted the certification of the election of President Joe Biden.

Who is on trial?

Besides Biggs, who describes himself as an organizer for the Proud Boys, here is who else is on trial with him: Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, who is the group’s former longtime chairman; Ethan Nordean, a Proud Boys chapter president from Washington state; Zachary Rehl, president of the Philadelphia chapter and Dominic Pezzola. Tarrio was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6 but prosecutors say he helped direct the group.

Biggs' Background

Biggs lived in a house in unincorporated Volusia County near Ormond Beach, moving to the area in 2018. He is originally from North Carolina, according to court records. Biggs served as a cannon crewmember in the Army Reserve from November 2004 to October 2007 and was active Army from October 2007 to February 2012, according to U.S. Army spokesperson Sgt. Pablo Saez. Biggs told his lawyer when this story first ran, that he was not in the Army Reserve. He deployed to Iraq from November 2005 to October 2006, and Afghanistan from December 2007 to February 2009. He held the rank of staff sergeant at the end of service, Saez said, in an email.

Biggs’ awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal (second award), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, Iraq Campaign Medal with two campaign stars, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Combat Action Badge and Driver and Mechanic Badge, according to Saenz. Biggs received a medical discharge from the Army when he was 28 and has struggled with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to court records.

Officer: Biggs turned the crowd against us

Biggs was the focus of dramatic testimony from U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards during congressional hearings. Edwards testified that she and a handful of officers were facing off against a crowd that included Biggs and some other Proud Boys. When a group of Arizona Proud Boys arrived, Biggs turned his megaphone and the group’s attention from Congress to the Capitol Police.

Biggs focused on police Volusia County Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs focused on Capitol Police in riot, officer says

“And once they joined that group, Joseph Biggs’ rhetoric turned to the Capitol Police,” Edwards testified. “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."

Edwards testified further: “I know when I'm being turned into a villain and that's when I turned to my sergeant and I stated the understatement of the century. I said, ‘Sarge, I think we're going to need a few more people down here.’”

Biggs was associated with Infowars

According to an article on the Southern Poverty Law Center website, Biggs was a contributor to Alex Jones’ Infowars show. According to the Hatewatch article, Jones fired Biggs in 2017 either because of Bigg’s tweets about domestic violence, tweeting in one that hitting a woman on the head before sex sets the right mood, or because Jones started to see Biggs as a competitor. But once Biggs “got in” with Tarrio, Biggs was back on Infowars.

Jones was ordered last year by courts to pay nearly $1.5 billion to victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre for spreading conspiracy theories about the 2012 mass murder. Jones declared bankruptcy.

'Stand back and stand by'

The Proud Boys were pleased when during a September 2020 presidential debate former President Donald Trump told the group “to stand back and stand by,” according to chat messages introduced in the trial. Biggs replied to a string of those messages by writing “I’m so happy...My phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”

Prosecutors also introduced messages related to the unfounded claim that the presidential election was stolen. In a Nov. 4, 2020 message Biggs wrote: “The left doesn’t realize they are radicalizing people by stealing this election. They are going to create their own worst enemy from this.”

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Biggs wrote the next day that it was time to “storm into these election areas where they are counting ballots” and “take action. Peacefully.” Then four hours later, Biggs wrote “It’s time for … War if they steal this...”

In a Nov. 27, 2020 message, Rehl wrote “Hopefully the firing squads are for traitors that are trying to steal the election from the American people,” and he linked to a story about the Trump administration trying to bring back firing squads and electrocution on the federal level.

What happens if he's found guilty?

Federal law says seditious conspiracy is when two or more persons "conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States..." among other offenses. Anyone found guilty shall be fined and faces a prison sentence of not more than 20 years.

Unlike other defendants in the trial, Biggs will not testify on his own behalf.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Joe Biggs, Volusia Proud Boys leader, will not testify at his trial