Key Highlights :
Washington — The one-time president of the far-right Proud Boys group Enrique Tarrio and three subordinates have been convicted of numerous felonies including seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. A federal jury in Washington, D.C. found Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and Joseph Biggs guilty of conspiring to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden and using force and prior planning to hinder the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The jury initially did not find a verdict for the fifth defendant, Dominic Pezzola, on the most serious charge, seditious conspiracy, and they were sent back to deliberate by Judge Timothy Kelly. After several hours, they found him not guilty of seditious conspiracy, but remained hung on whether he was part of the conspiracy to obstruct.
All five defendants were found guilty of several other felonies, including obstructing an official proceeding; obstructing Congress; conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging duties; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and aiding and abetting and destruction of government property. But the jury was hung on a total of 10 counts, and a mistrial was declared on those charges. Tarrio, who arrested on Jan. 4, 2021, and not at the Capitol, was found not guilty of assaulting officers. Only Pezzola was found guilty of that charge. They now likely face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday said that the verdict "makes clear that the Justice Department will do everything in its power to defend the American people and American democracy." "We have secured the convictions of defendants who obstructed the certification of a presidential election, as well as the subsequent criminal investigation in the events of Jan. 6," Garland said. "And now, after three trials, we have secured the convictions of leaders of both the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers for seditious conspiracy, specifically conspiring to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power. Our work will continue."
Prosecutors argued that the defendants had conspired to unlawfully use force — and the crowds gathered in Washington, D.C. — to keep former President Donald Trump in office. Soon after the election, investigators alleged Tarrio began posting on social media and in message groups about a "civil war," later threatening, "No Trump…No peace. No Quarter." Proud Boys leaders saw themselves as "a fighting force" that was "ready to commit violence" on Trump's behalf, the government alleged.
According to charging papers, Nordean, Rehl, Biggs and Pezzola gathered with over 100 Proud Boys near the Washington Monument on Jan. 6, 2021, around the time that Trump was speaking at the White House Ellipse. They allegedly marched to the Capitol grounds and communicated by radio. Prosecutors said the defendants were among the first wave of rioters to breach Capitol grounds over police barricades and lead the mob toward the building. Some defendants – like Pezzola – were accused of breaking windows at the Capitol, while others roused the mob and pushed through metal barricades and police lines to enter the Capitol. Tarrio wasn't in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 because he had been arrested for unrelated charges a day earlier.
Still, the Justice Department alleged his planning before the attack, support for the rioters during the assault and comments afterward were sufficient to charge him with seditious conspiracy. "Make no mistake, we did this," Tarrio wrote on social media during the riot. "The spirit of 1776 has been resurfaced and has created groups like the Proud Boys. And we will not be extinguished," Nordean allegedly wrote in Nov. 2020. "Hopefully the firing squads are for the traitors that are trying to steal the election from the American people," Rehl posted.
Prosecutors said Tarrio exhorted protesters to violence, posting before Jan. 6, "Let's bring this new year in with one word in mind: revolt." In text messages, he later compared Proud Boys' actions that day to those of George Washington, Sam Adams and Benjamin Franklin.
Defense attorneys countered that the Proud Boys were just a glorified "drinking club" where men shared their anger, and they contended Tarrio and others had no explicit plan to resist the election results or obstruct Congress. Tarrio was merely exercising his constitutional rights, his lawyer argued. "Did Enrique Tarrio make comments that were egregious? Absolutely," Tarrio's attorney rhetorically asked the jury in closing arguments last week. "You may not like what he said, but it is First Amendment-protected speech."
The trial, which began on Jan. 12, dragged from winter into spring with dozens of witnesses called by both sides and thousands of exhibits. Witnesses included a documentary filmmaker who followed Tarrio around after the 2020 presidential election, numerous FBI agents who investigated the case, Secret Service employees, and former Proud Boys. Only two of the five defendants — Rehl and Pezzola — testified in their own defense. Rehl said he knew of no plans for violence and encouraged no one to engage with police. Prosecutors showed video of Pezzola using a stolen police shield to smash a window and smoking a "victory cigar" inside the Capitol. He said he acted alone and testified he was not part of any criminal enterprise.
Pezzola's attorney, Steve Metcalf, called the government's case a "fairy dust conspiracy," Matthew Greene — a former Proud Boys member — testified as a government witness and told the jury he first joined the group to defend against ANTIFA. He testified there had been no explicit call to violently resist Joe Biden's presidency, but a "collective expectation" that