Ex-Proud Boys leader convicted over US Capitol riot plot

04 May 2023 , 16:06

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Former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio has been charged in connection with the January 6 Capitol riots (Image: The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The former leader of the Proud Boys has been convicted of orchestrating a plot for members of the far-right extremist group to attack the US Capitol in the January 6 riots as a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power.

Former leader Enrique Tarrio was convicted today, Thursday, May 4, by a jury in Washington DC who found him guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the biggest cases brought in the attack which unfolded on January 6, 2021, while the world watched after Republican Donald Trump had lost the 2020 election.

Tarrio wasn't even in Washington DC when the Capitol riots took place as he had been arrested days earlier and ordered out of the city (AFP via Getty Images)

This latest conviction marks a huge milestone for the Justice Department, which has now secured convictions for seditious conspiracy against leaders of two major extremist groups which prosecutors say were intent on keeping Democratic winner Joe Biden out of the White House. Seditious conspiracy is a crime of conspiring against the authority or legitimacy of the state - it has been described as a lesser counterpart to treason.

Tarrio's charge comes with a prison sentence of up to 20 years. He was a top target for the Justice Department in what has become the department's largest investigation in US history.

He led the right-wing, neo-fascist group when Trump infamously told them to "stand back and stand by" during his first debate with Biden. The group are known for getting into street fights with left-wing activists and has been designated as a terrorist group in Canada and New Zealand.

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Four members of the far-right Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy (AFP via Getty Images)

In fact, Tarrio wasn't even in Washington on January 6, as he had been arrested two days earlier in a separate case and ordered out of the capital city. However, prosecutors argued he organised and directed the attack by Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol that day in scenes which shocked the world.

Prosecutors told jurors the group viewed itself as "Trump's army" and was prepared for "all-out war" if it would stop Biden taking the presidency. The Proud Boys were "lined up behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf", prosecutor Conor Mulroe said in his closing argument.

At the core of the government's case were hundreds of messages exchanged by Proud Boys members in the days leading up to the Capitol attack which show the group peddling Trump's false claims of a stolen election, with people trading fears over what they thought could happen when Biden took office.

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol in Washington D.C on January 6, 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)

While Proud Boys were storming the Capitol, Tarrio cheered them on from afar. He took to social media to say: "So what must be done".

In an encrypted Proud Boys group chat later that day, someone asked what they should do next. Tarrio responded: "Do it again."

In another message, he wrote: "Make no mistake. We did this."

But defense lawyers argued there was no plot to attack the Capitol or stop Congress from certifying Biden's win. A lawyer for Tarrio tried to push the blame onto Trump, arguing the former president had incited the pro-Trump mob attack when he urged crowds congregating near the White House to "fight like hell".

"It was Donald Trump's words," attorney Nayib Hassan said in his closing argument. "It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6 in your beautiful and amazing city.

Enrique Tarrio (C), leader of the Proud Boys, uses a megaphone while counter-protesting people gathered at the Torch of Friendship to commemorate the one year anniversary of the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2021 in Miami, Florida (Getty Images)

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

Tarrio, who lives in Miami, was charged and tried with four other Proud Boys; Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter leader. Rehl led a group chapter in Philadelphia.

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Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organiser. Pezzola was a group member from Rochester, New York.

Enrique Tarrio was leader of the Proud Boys when Trump infamously told them to "stand back and stand by" during his first debate with Biden (Amy Harris/REX/Shutterstock)

The Justice Department hadn't tried a seditious conspiracy case in a decade before a jury convicted another extremist group leader, Steward Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers, of the charge which dates back to the Civil War-era last year. Over the course of two Oath Keepers trials, Rhodes and five other members were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a separate plot to forcibly halt the transfer of presidential power from Trump to Biden.

Three defendants were acquitted of the sedition charge, but convicted of obstructing Congress' certification of Biden's electoral victory. The Oath Keepers are set to be sentenced next month, however, the Justice Department has not disclosed how much prison time it will seek.

Fiona Leishman