Is Trump Next? Providing yet another data point that January 6 was exactly what it appeared to be, several members of the Proud Boys were convicted Thursday of seditious conspiracy.
The Proud Boys Are in Trouble
Despite attempts by Republicans in Congress, as well as since-fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson, to show that the insurrection of January 6, 2021, was in fact peaceful and harmless, the courts have continued to find that the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol was exactly what it appeared to be when we all watched it on live television as it happened.
On Thursday, after seven days of deliberations that followed a 15-week trial, a federal jury convicted several top members of the Proud Boys organization of seditious conspiracy for their parts in the insurrection. Politico reporter Kyle Cheney reported on the verdicts from the courtroom.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the group’s former leader, was convicted of seditious conspiracy, as were defendants Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, and Zachary Rehl. All three were also convicted of obstruction of Congress and conspiracy to obstruct Congress. Another defendant, Dominic Pezzola, was convicted of other charges but saw the jury deadlocked on the seditious conspiracy charge as well as conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, per The New York Times.
Pezzola was convicted of assaulting/impeding law enforcement, while the other defendants were acquitted on that charge, and all five were convicted of one count of destruction of government property and another of obstruct/impede/interfere with law enforcement during a civil disorder, and of conspiracy to prevent Congress/federal officers from discharging duties, per Cheney.
The jury is still deadlocked on some counts.
Seditious conspiracy charges were also filed against another far-right group, The Oath Keepers, with the government winning guilty verdicts in two separate trials against several top members, including that group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes. Per Cheney, there have now been 14 people convicted on the seditious conspiracy statute, one rarely used prior to January 6.
In the Proud Boys trial, two former members of the group testified against the defendants.
Trump to Blame?
Both sides in the trial invoked former President Donald Trump, with prosecutors referring to the defendants as “Donald Trump’s Army,” while Tarrio’s attorney also blamed Trump.
“It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your amazing and beautiful city,” the former Proud Boy’s lawyer said in court, Politico reported during the trial.
“The leader of the free world sold this narrative, and many members of the Proud Boys believed it,” Biggs’ attorney Norm Pattis, who has long represented Alex Jones, also said during the trial.
Is Donald Trump In Trouble?
It remains to be seen whether Trump will be charged with any crime for his role on January 6. The January 6 Committee, last year, issued criminal referrals for the former president for four potential charges: Obstruction of an official proceeding, Conspiracy to defraud the United States, Conspiracy to knowingly make a false statement, and Assisting, aiding, or comforting an insurrection.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating, per the order appointing him, “whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021 , as well as any matters that arose or might arise directly from this investigation.”
Trump had said in a presidential debate in the fall of 2020 that the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by,” a slogan that the group later adopted and put on t-shirts. Tarrio has long been a prolific producer and marketer of t-shirts and the former Proud Boys leader, who was arrested days before January 6 for vandalizing a Black Lives Matter flag at a Washington church, later even hedged his bets by selling pro-BLM shirts.
The trial, per the Times, unearthed numerous embarrassing internal communications within the Proud Boys, including “a trove of internal group chats and recordings [that] revealed a toxic stew of machismo, homophobia, and misogyny often accompanied by sophomoric humor and rampant alcohol use. The jury heard members of the group engaging in casual antisemitism and, in some cases, promoting outright Nazi sympathy.”
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Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
