Former Proud Boys leader among 4 guilty of Jan. 6 sedition plot

FILE - Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio rallies in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 17, 2019. A federal jury is set to hear closing arguments in the historical trial of Proud Boys extremist group leaders charged with outlining to use force to keep former President Donald Trump in power. Beginning Monday, April 24, 2023, district attorneys and defense legal representatives will make their final appeals to jurors who will choose the fate of previous Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants.
WASHINGTON - - Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group were founded guilty Thursday of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol in a desperate quote to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 governmental election.

A jury in Washington, D.C., discovered Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after speaking with lots of witnesses over more than 3 months in among the most severe cases brought in the stunning attack that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, as the world viewed on live TV.

It's a substantial turning point for the Justice Department, which has actually now secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the leaders of 2 major extremist groups prosecutors say were intent on keeping Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House at all costs. The charge carries a prison sentence of approximately 20 years.

Tarrio was a leading target of what has become the largest Justice Department examination in American history. He led the neo-fascist group - - understood for street battles with left-wing activists - - when Trump infamously informed the Proud Boys to "stand back and wait" during his very first dispute with Biden.

Tarrio wasn't in Washington on Jan. 6, since he had actually been detained 2 days previously in a separate case and ordered out of the capital city. But prosecutors said he directed the attack and arranged by Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol that day.

In addition to Tarrio, a Miami homeowner, three other Proud Boys were founded guilty of seditious conspiracy: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl.

Jurors have not yet reached an unanimous decision on the sedition charge for 5th accused: Dominic Pezzola. The judge informed them to keep deliberating.

Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter leader. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer.

Prosecutors informed jurors the group viewed itself as "Trump's army" and was prepared for "full-blown war" to stop Biden from ending up being president.

The Proud Boys were "lined up behind Donald Trump and happy to dedicate violence on his behalf," prosecutor Conor Mulroe stated in his closing argument.

The foundation of the government's case was numerous messages exchanged by Proud Boys in the days leading up to Jan. 6 that reveal the far-right extremist group peddling Trump's incorrect claims of a stolen election and trading fears over what would occur when Biden took office.

As Proud Boys swarmed the Capitol, Tarrio cheered them on from afar, composing on social networks: "Do what must be done." In a Proud Boys encrypted group chat later on that day someone asked what they must do next. Tarrio responded: "Do it once again.".

" Make no mistake," Tarrio wrote in another message. "We did this.".

Defense attorney rejected there was any plot to assault the Capitol or stop Congress' certification of Biden's win. An attorney for Tarrio sought to push the blame onto Trump, arguing the previous president incited the pro-Trump mob's attack when he urged the crowd near the White House to "combat like hell.".

"It was not Enrique Tarrio. They desire to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power.".

The Justice Department had not tried a seditious conspiracy case in a years prior to a jury founded guilty another extremist group leader, Oath Keepers creator Stewart Rhodes, of the Civil War-era charge last year.

Throughout two Oath Keepers trials, Rhodes and five other members were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a different plot to by force stop the transfer of governmental power from Trump to Biden. 3 defendants were acquitted of the sedition charge, but convicted of obstructing Congress' certification of Biden's electoral triumph.

The Justice Department has yet to reveal how much prison time it will look for when the Oath Keepers are sentenced next month.