Proud Boys did not ‘stand back and stand by’ on Jan. 6, prosecutors say as sedition trial begins

Former Proud Boys leader Henry (Enrique) Tarrio and four lieutenants charged with seditious conspiracy in the attack on the US Capitol “targeted at the heart of our democracy” on January 6, 2021, federal prosecutors told jurors on Thursday are high profile. trial opened in Washington.

Jurors began hearing opening statements from lawyers more than two years after members of far-right extremist groups joined pro-Donald Trump mobs in storming the Capitol.

Assistant US Attorney Jason McCullough said the Proud Boys knew that Trump’s hopes for a second term in office were quickly fading as January 6 approached. So the group’s leaders are assembling “fighting forces” to stop the transfer of presidential power to Joe Biden, McCullough said. Tarrio sees the Biden presidency as a “threat to the existence of the Proud Boys,” the prosecutor said.

McCullough showed jurors a video clip of Trump telling the Proud Boys to “stop and stand” during the first presidential debate with Biden in 2020.

“These people didn’t back down. They didn’t stand up. Instead, they mobilized,” the prosecutor said.

The trial was held over the seditious conspiracy convictions of two leaders of the Oath Keepers, another far-right extremist group. Several other members of the Oath Keepers are accused of plotting to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Trump, a Republican, to Biden, a Democrat.

The case against Tarrio and four associates is one of the most consequential to emerge from the January 6 riots in the Capitol. The trial will provide an in-depth look at a group that has become an influential force in mainstream Republican politics.

Defense attorneys said there are no plans to go to the Capitol or stop Congressional certification of the election that Biden won. Tarrio’s lawyers have not said whether they will defend him.

Tarrio’s co-defendant Ethan Nordean, of Auburn, Wash., who is president of the Proud Boys chapter; Joseph Biggs, Ormond Beach, Fla., Organizer Proud Boys self-described; Zachary Rehl, who is president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia; and Dominic Pezzola, a member of Proud Boy from Rochester, NY

McCullough told jurors they would look at the defendants’ private communications, public statements, coordinated actions at the Capitol and riot celebrations before trying to cover their tracks.

A message posted by Tarrio on social media before January 6 said, “Lords of War” over a photo of Pezzola with the hashtags “#J6? and “#J20.”

“These warlords are joining forces to stop the transfer of presidential power,” McCullough said.

The jury selection process is controversial

The Department of Justice has charged nearly 1,000 people across the United States over the January 6 deadly riot, and the investigation continues to grow.

The Proud Boys trial is the first major trial to begin since the House committee investigating the rebellion asked the department to bring criminal charges against Trump and his associates behind the effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

When the criminal referral has not legal standing real, increased political pressure has been on the Attorney General Merrick Garland and the special counsel he appointed, Jack Smith, who conducted an investigation on January 6 and Trump’s actions.

Jury selection in this case took two weeks as the killing of potential jurors said they associated Boys Proud with hate groups or white nationalism. The Capitol can be seen in the distance from a part of the courthouse, where the second group of Oath Keepers is also being tried for seditious conspiracy, which carries up to 20 years behind bars after conviction.

Tarrio was not at the Capitol that day

Tensions bubbled over at times as jury selection slowed to a crawl and defense attorneys complained that too many potential jurors were biased against the Proud Boys. Defense attorneys challenged jurors who expressed support for causes such as Black Lives Matter, saying they could show prejudice against Boys Proud.

Tarrio, from Miami, was not in Washington on Jan. 6 because he was arrested two days before the riots and charged with destroying a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during a protest in December 2020. He was ordered to leave the capital, but prosecutors said he remained involved in the extremist group’s planning. for January 6.

Communications cited in court papers show the Proud Boys discussed storming the Capitol in the days leading up to the riots. On January 3rd, someone suggested in a group chat that the “main theater of operations” be in front of the Capitol. “I didn’t hear this voice note until now, you want to attack the Capitol,” Tarrio said the next day in the same conversation.

Lieutenant Tarrio was part of the first wave of rioters who pushed onto the Capitol grounds and charged police barricades into the building, according to prosecutors. Pezzola used a riot shield stolen from a Capitol Police officer to break a window, allowing the first rioters to enter the building, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Tarrio cheered the Pride Boys on the ground while he watched from afar.

“Do what you gotta do. #WeThePeople.” he wrote on social media during the riots. “Don’t (expletive) leave,” Tarrio wrote in another post.