Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy during the January 6 riot – and they now face up to 20 years in prison
- Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were all found guilty of the charges after breaking into the Capitol
- The Washington DC jury was unable to reach a verdict against a fifth man, Dominic Pezzola
- Prosecutors say the groups intended to keep Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House at all costs
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the group have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy over the January 6 riots.
Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Tarrio were all found guilty of the charges after breaking into the Capitol after the 2020 election.
The Washington DC jury was unable to reach a verdict against a fifth man, Dominic Pezzola, and the others face up to 20 years in prison.
All four men face a range of charges, including three separate charges of conspiracy, obstruction of electoral college voting and tampering with evidence.
The case is one of the most serious in the mind-boggling attack, which took place on January 6, 2021.
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio found guilty of seditious conspiracy over 2021 January 6 riots
Tarrio was a prime target of the Justice Department, which has now secured convictions for incendiary conspiracy against the leaders of two major extremist groups.
Prosecutors say the groups intended to keep Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House at all costs.
He led the neo-fascist group — known for street battles with left-wing activists — when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his first debate with Biden.
Tarrio was not in Washington the day the Capitol was stormed – because he had been arrested two days earlier in a separate case and had been forced to leave the capitol.
But prosecutors said he organized and led the attack by Proud Boys, with the group describing itself as “Trump’s army” and preparing for “all-out war” to prevent Biden from becoming president.
The Proud Boys “stood behind Donald Trump and were prepared to commit violence on his behalf,” prosecutor Conor Mulroe said in his closing argument.
During the trial, the court learned that hundreds of messages had been exchanged between the group prior to the riot.
Tarrio wrote “Do what needs to be done” on social media as the crowd flooded the Capitol, and when asked what to do next, he replied, “Do it again.”
The investigation became the largest for the Justice Department in U.S. history, and it hadn’t tried an incendiary conspiracy case in more than a decade.
Last year, a jury convicted another extremist group leader, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, of the Civil War-era charges last year.
This is an evolving story.