Proud Boys trial : Police testify to ‘dire’ scene on Jan 6 as far-right group faces sedition charges

Prosecutors played audio of now-former Proud Boys chair Enrique Tarrio saying “I didn’t hear this until now. You want to storm the Capitol.”

“In some situations in life you have to guess if people mean what they say,” Assistant US Attorney Jason McCullough said. “At other times, people do exactly what they say they’re going to do. In this trial, you won’t have to guess.”

Jurors were shown video of defendant Ethan Nordean taken at 11.41am on 6 January, 2021, according to prosecutors.

Someone can be heard saying “Ethan, let’s f****** do it”. Moments later, at 11.47am, he tells the crowd “take the f****** Capitol”.

Donald Trump began his speech to a rally crowd at 11.57am.

Members of the far-right nationalist gang the Proud Boys rallied a crowd to “take the f****** Capitol” as a joint session of Congress convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election on 6 January, 2021.

In opening arguments in a trial for five members of the group charged with seditious conspiracy for their actions leading up to and during the attack, federal prosecutors showed video taken roughly 20 minutes before then-President Donald Trump addressed his supporters at a nearby rally.

Assistant US Attorney Jason McCullough said the group did not intend to listen to the president’s speech; they had always planned to lead a crowd to the Capitol to forcibly stop the transfer of presidential power.

“They hoped the ‘normies’ – that is, the civilians – would burn the city to ash,” he told jurors on 12 January.

Our breaking report from today’s opening arguments:

Judge Timothy Kelly has denied a request from defense attorneys to declare a mistrial after federal prosecutors closed their opening arguments shortly before 1pm on Thursday.

Zachary Rehl’s attorney Carmen Hernandez claimed that the Justice Depamrtment’s opening statement was “misleading and inflammatory” and presented evidence out of context.

“I don’t think the government did anything to warrant a mistrial, so its denied,” Judge Kelly said.

Federal prosecutors have argued that rioters who were not connected with the group served as “tools” for the Proud Boys and their alleged plot, which would not have succeeded without “weaponizing the crowd,” prosecutors wrote in court filings.

In a message on Telegram the day of the attack, one group leader wrote “I want to see thousands of normies burn that city to ash today.”

Defense attorneys for the five Proud Boys members on trial for seditious conspiracy are preparing their opening arguments. Judge Timothy Kelly has returned to the courtroom and the trial will resume shortly.

The men on trial include former chair Enrique Tarrio as well as Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, Dominic Pezzola and Zachary Rehl.

Nick Smith opened his defense argument for his client Ethan Nordean by calling the events of Janaury 6 “a disgrace”.

“An embarrassment to the country, a historic embarrassment,” he said. “It was a crass spectacle in front of the world.”

Mr Smith said jurors “will not hear from a single defendant in this trial they are proud, today, of [the riot].”

“Like thousands of other protesters that day, you’ll see Ethan Nordean walked into the building, broke nothing, had no weapons, accosted no member of office,” he added.

Attorney Nick Smith said jurors will not see any evidence from federal prosecutors that supports a charge of conspiracy, alleging the prosecution’s evidence is selective and misleading.

The defense so far mirrors other high-profile January 6 cases involving serious charges of conspiracy or other felonies, which have largely relied on arguing that what defendants did was wrong but did not rise to the level of a serious crime, and that the “plot” behind it was nothing more than rhetoric.

Nick Smith continues his opening statement, arguing that “complex phenomena” like the Capitol riot “or a revolution” must “have a cause that’s as big as the effect,” building an argument that the events of January 6 weren’t any one person’s fault but the collective energy swept up defendants into the chaos.

“When it comes to complex phenomena like this – we assume like a riot or a revolution – must have a cause that’s as big as the effect,” he said. “We also know from our experience that’s true, in chaotic situations that happen in the moment can have tremendously large effects.”

He argued that the government’s case rests on a logical fallacy: “We hear a rooster crow and then the sun rises. We may think that the rooster’s crowing may have some influence on the sun rising. We know it doesn’t work this way.”

Nick Smith, the attorney for defendant Ethan Nordean, claims that testimony from three government witnesses – all convicted Proud Boys who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy last year – will corroborate claims that the five men on trial did not have a plan on 6 January, 2021.

Jeremy Bertino, who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy in October, said that “everything that was supposed to happen that day was a peaceful protest,” according to Mr Smith.

Witness Charles Donohoe also said that the “conspiracy stuff isn’t true,” Mr Smith said. A third witness, John Stewart, also told the government that “it was just a protest, that’s what it was supposed to be, just a protest” and was not a preplanned event, according to Mr Smith.

“The plan was to discuss the plan in person on the ground in DC, not before,” Mr Donohoe reportedly testified.

Mr Smith said that evidence will show that “not a single text or Telegram is about storming the Capitol, jumping barricades … plotting any crime, or using force.”