Four members of the far-right Proud Boys, including former leader Enrique Tarrio, have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy for their role in the January 6th US Capitol riot.
A fifth co-defendant was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy, but was convicted on other felony charges.
The verdicts came after a trial lasting nearly four months.
Seditious conspiracy carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Each defendant was convicted of multiple additional felonies. All five were convicted of obstructing an official proceeding, which also carries a maximum 20-year sentence.
They were also found guilty of conspiracy to prevent officials from discharging their duties, impeding officers during civil disorder, and destruction of a fence protecting the Capitol.
A mistrial was declared on a total of 10 charges against the men where the jury failed to come to a conclusion, in a complex trial that took more than twice as long as planned.
Proud Boys marched several times in Washington DC after the 2020 election, often clashing with far-left anti-fascist protesters.
More than 100 members of the group were present on 6 January 2021, as the election results were due to be certified by Congress, and dozens have subsequently been arrested.
Unlike his co-defendants, the former Proud Boy chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was not in Washington that day.
He was arrested two days before for previously burning a Black Lives Matter banner and weapons charges. He was ordered by a judge to leave the city and ended up watching events from a hotel room in nearby Baltimore.
His co-defendants included Ethan Nordean, 31, of Washington state, who goes by the alias “Rufio Panman”.
Nordean was active in Proud Boy street protests and brawls with anti-fascist activists in the Pacific Northwest. In video from 6 January, he was seen leading members of the group around the Capitol along with co-defendant Joe Biggs, 38, of Florida, a US Army veteran and former broadcaster for Alex Jones’s Infowars.
Zachary Rehl, 36, a former US Marine and leader of the Philadelphia branch of the Proud Boys, was also part of a group that stormed the building.
A fifth defendant, 44-year-old Dominic Pezzola of Rochester, New York, was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy.
Pezzola, also a former US Marine and at the time a relatively recent recruit to the group, took a riot shield from police officer and smashed a window. He was one of the first people inside the building and lit a cigar in celebration.
However, he testified in his own defence and said he was acting alone and had not met his co-defendants prior to that day. He was convicted of assaulting a police officer while taking the riot shield, while the others were found not guilty on that charge.
Rehl also testified in his own defence, but the others did not take the stand.
What planning was involved?
In court, prosecutors introduced a large volume of text messages, social media posts and videos to prove that the group’s actions amounted to a co-ordinated plot to try to stop the certification of the 2020 election result.
The Proud Boys repeatedly posted a number of violent threats online. For instance, in November 2020, Tarrio wrote on a post by Joe Biden: “YOU need to remember the American people are at war with YOU. No Trump… No peace. No quarter.”
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Others posted about civil war, firing squads and “traitors”.
The trial was delayed by slow jury selection, motions for mistrial by defence lawyers, numerous arguments over witnesses and evidence, and concerns about possible juror intimidation.
Lawyers for the defendants argued that the group was poorly organised, mostly non-violent, and that there was no preconceived plan to storm the building.
They also noted that Tarrio, a long-time police informant, was in touch with Washington DC police before 6 January and informed an officer of the group’s plans for the day.
In closing arguments lawyers for the defendants placed the blame on former US president Donald Trump, saying they merely followed his suggestion to show up on 6 January.
“‘Be there, it’s going to be wild,’ the commander-in-chief said. And so they did,” said Norm Pattis, an attorney for Biggs, referencing one of Mr Trump’s tweets.
Who are Proud Boys?
The Proud Boys were founded in New York City in 2016 by Gavin McInnes, a co-founder of Vice who left the media company to embark on a career as a right-wing commentator and podcaster.
They describe themselves as an all-male drinking club or a “pro-Western fraternal organisation”.
But they became better known for their frequent brawls with left-wing anti-fascist activists in cities across the US.
In a 2019 BBC documentary, Proud Boys based in Portland, Oregon, boasted about arrests and street fighting.
They achieved mainstream fame after a presidential debate in September 2020. During a discussion about extremism, Joe Biden mentioned the organisation. Donald Trump responded by saying: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” Video of the debate was aired in court.
Defence lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to subpoena Mr Trump in an attempt to bolster their argument that their clients were simply following presidential orders.
Since the Capitol riot, the group’s national leadership has fractured, but local chapters continue to operate with a new focus on protesting outside drag shows and anti-transgender activism.
What is seditious conspiracy?
Under US law, seditious conspiracy is defined as a plot to overthrow the government or use force “to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States”.
It is a rarely used law that dates from the US Civil War. Last year two leaders of the Oath Keepers – one of the other major organised groups present at the Capitol riot – were convicted in the first successful prosecution for seditious conspiracy since 1995. Three other members of that militia were acquitted of the charge during last year’s trial.
Seditious conspiracy is less serious than treason, which is the only crime specifically spelled out in the US Constitution and requires a high standard of proof – the testimony of at least two witnesses in open court or a confession. Treason can also be punishable by the death penalty.
The government’s case in the Proud Boys trial relied in part on another Proud Boy, Jeremy Bertino, who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and testified for the prosecution.
