Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other far-right extremists were convicted Thursday of plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 presidential election.
After hearing from dozens of witnesses over three months, a Washington, D.C., jury convicted Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy in one of the most severe cases brought in the shocking incident on Jan. 6, 2021, broadcast live worldwide.
Tarrio was convicted of delaying Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, law enforcement, and two conspiracy offenses. A co-defendant who stole an officer’s riot shield cleared him of assault.
The Justice Department has now convicted the leaders of two major extremist groups of seditious conspiracy for trying to keep Biden out of the White House. It carries a 20-year penalty.
Tarrio, imprisoned since March 2022, didn’t react to the verdict. He hugged one lawyer and shook the other before leaving the courtroom. As the verdict was read, the defendants’ families wiped away tears.
Tarrio’s attorney declined comment Thursday. The most significant American Justice Department inquiry targeted Tarrio. Trump famously instructed the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his first debate with Biden.
Tarrio was arrested two days earlier in a separate case and ordered out of Washington on Jan. 6. Prosecutors say he organized the Proud Boys’ Capitol attack. Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl were also convicted of seditious conspiracy.
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Dominic Pezzola’s sedition accusation remains unresolved. Keep deliberating, the court said. Auburn, Washington’s Nordean led Proud Boys. Rehl headed a Philadelphia group. Self-described Proud Boys organizer Biggs was from Ormond Beach, Florida. Rochester-born Pezzola joined the group.
Prosecutors told jurors the group was “Trump’s army” and prepared for “all-out war” to stop Biden from becoming president. The Proud Boys were “lined up behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf,” prosecutor Conor Mulroe said in his final argument.
The government relied on hundreds of Proud Boys messages from the days preceding up to Jan. 6 to prove Trump’s bogus allegations of a stolen election and their concerns about Biden’s presidency.
“Do what must be done,” Tarrio tweeted as Proud Boys stormed the Capitol. Later that day, someone asked what to do in a Proud Boys encrypted group chat. Tarrio said, “Do it again.” “Make no mistake,” Tarrio wrote again. “We did this.”
Defense attorneys denied a scheme to attack the Capitol or prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s triumph. Tarrio’s lawyer blamed Trump for inciting the pro-Trump mob’s attack by telling the throng near the White House to “fight like hell.”
Trump’s statements. His inspiration. “His anger caused what happened on January 6th in your beautiful and amazing city,” attorney Nayib Hassan told jurors in his final argument. “Not Enrique Tarrio. They want to blame Enrique Tarrio for Trump and the powerful.”
Last year, a jury convicted Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes of the Civil War-era seditious conspiracy charge, the Justice Department’s first in a decade. Rhodes and five other Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy in two trials for a separate scheme to stop Trump from handing over power to Biden.
Three defendants were acquitted of sedition but convicted of blocking Congress’ certification of Biden’s election. The Justice Department has not said how much prison time it will seek for the Oath Keepers next month.
