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Far-right group Proud Boys: Four members found guilty over capitol riots

By David Laycock • Published: 05 May 2023 • 23:34

Far-right group Proud Boys: Four members found guilty over capitol riots

Image of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Credit: Google maps - George Prince

Four members of the Proud Boys far-right group were found guilty yesterday, May 4, of seditious conspiracy in relation to their roles in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Former leader of the group Enrique Tarrio, and 3 others, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were convicted for their roles in an effort to keep Donald Trump in power, following his election defeat in 2020.

BBC Breaking News reported yesterday on Twitter that:

“Four members of far-right Proud Boys group found guilty of seditious conspiracy over 2021 US Capitol riot”.

Seditious conspiracy is the crime of conspiring against the legitimacy of the state or its authority, and the verdicts handed down yesterday were seen by Washington as a conclusion to these cases relating to the January 6 attack.

Previous convictions were handed down to members of another American far-right group, the Oath Keepers.

The FBI identified the Proud Boys as playing major roles in storming the Capitol, which was a reaction by some  Trump supporters, who believed the 2020 election to be fraudulent.

As reported in the Guardian the attorney general, Merrick Garland, said:

“Evidence presented at trial detailed the extent of the violence at the Capitol on January 6 and the central role these defendants played setting into motion the unlawful events of that day.”

He added: “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.”

Brian Krassenstein posted a video on Twitter with Merrick Garland saying:

“Today’s verdict makes clear that the Justice Department will do everything in its power to defend the American people and defend democracy.”

The convicted now await sentencing, as they are found guilty of trying to obstruct the process of Joe Biden’s certification as the new US President on January 6, 2021.

Trump has received criticism for calling for a ‘wild’ protest on that date in a Tweet in December 2020, telling his supporters to “fight like hell”. Due to this he was subjected to a second impeachment for inciting an insurrection, but was acquitted.

We await the sentencing of these four men for seditious conspiracy and a fifth man, Dominic Pezzola, who will join the other four on the lesser charge of obstructing an official proceeding.

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Written by

David Laycock

Dave Laycock has always written. Poems, songs, essays, academic papers as well as newspaper articles; the written word has always held a great fascination for him and he is never happier than when being creative. From a musical background, Dave has travelled the world performing and also examining for a British music exam board. He also writes, produces and performs and records music. All this aside, he is currently fully focussed on his journalism and can’t wait to share more stories from around the world and beyond.

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