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

Weeks after jurors found two members of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers guilty of seditious conspiracy against the government, federal prosecutors are now hoping to convict another high-profile group of rioters connected to the January 6 assault.

Members of the far-right nationalist gang the Proud Boys, including its former leader, face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Capitol attack.

Pulling from evidence and testimony from dozens of members and guilty pleas from more than a dozen others, federal prosecutors will try to convince a jury in US District Court that five men on trial had conspired to forcefully oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power on 6 January, 2021.

In his opening arguments to kick off the case on 12 January, Assistant US Attorney Jason McCullough said members of the Proud Boys “took aim at the heart of our democracy” on January 6, as members breached the halls of Congress after months of discussing an alleged attack.

“They did not stand back. They did not stand by,” he said, referencing Donald Trump’s remarks to the group in a presidential debate in September of 2020.

“They mobilised,” he said.

“The transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden was stopped at the hand of these defendants,” Mr McCullough added. “And before they realised how much trouble they were in, they celebrated their group’s accomplishments.“

He added that former leader Enrique Tarrio told members “make no mistake, we did this”, a glimpse of various text messages to be used as evidence by the prosecution in their case against the five men on trial.

Federal law enforcement has made more than 900 arrests over the last two years connected to the Capitol riot.

But one prominent suspect has eluded capture: the person accused of planting pipe bombs that were found the day of the riot.

This month, the FBI upped the reward for information leading to an arrest to $500,000.

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi reports:

The attorneys defending five members of the Proud Boys against seditious conspiracy charges would have you believe that their actions were simultaneously “disgraceful” and afflicted by “myths” about their bigotry, that they were mere “scapegoats” misled by Donald Trump, and that they regret their actions – even though they stand by the belief that the Capitol riot was little more than a “six hour delay of Congress”.

Former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, and four members Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, and Dominic Pezzola are accused of conspiring to incite the January 6 Capitol riot in an effort to stop the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 election.

On Thursday, they all returned to the scene of their alleged crimes as they were brought into the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, just across the street from the US Capitol grounds, for the start of their trial.

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi reports from the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, in Washington DC:

In court hearings and documents surrounding the assault on the US Capitol, defense attorneys have largely conceded that January 6 was an embarassment or a vile attack on democracy while asserting that their clients’ actions did not amount to serious crimes or conspiracy against the government.

A defense attorney for Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola – who was filmed breaking a window as a mob breached the building – has claimed that “the entire case is about a six hour delay of Congress.”

Roger Roots said that “the government makes a big deal about this six-hour recess.”

“If [the Capitol riot] was an attack, it might have been one of the lamest attacks one could imagine,” he said in his opening arguments. “The attacks carried few weapons other than megaphones ... Imagine an insurrection in which the insurrections were in complete compliance with DC gun laws.”

Mr Pezzola is accused of using a riot shield taken from an officer to break a window. Mr Pezzola appears to have not initially broken it. Mr Roots argued since damage was already done, Mr Pezzola smashing the remainder of it out with his shield “did not cause additional damage.”

“These are not thousand dollar windows,” he said.

Attorney Nick Smith, whose client Ethan Nordean is among five men accused of seditious conspiracy for their role in the Capitol attack, 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.

During opening arguments on Thursday, Zachary Rehl’s attorney Carmen Hernandez spent a good portion of her opening argument holding her microphone over her head, ensuring that few people outside the courtroom — which included most of the press in an adjacent viewing room at the courthouse — could not hear what she was saying.

At one point she began citing the First Amendment, before moving the mic away from her mouth for an extended period of time.

By the time she brought it back so that her comments were audible, she had somehow worked her way to talking about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his infamous black hair dye incident.

It remains a mystery how this related to the case.

Dominic Pezzola’s attorney Roger Root’s opening statement included some questionable moments.

He played a video of his client smoking a cigarette in the Capitol near the end of the riot claiming victory, telling the jury that they would soon come to refer to it as the “not guilty video”.

“This is f***ing awesome. I knew we could take this motherf***er if we just tried hard enough. Proud of your motherf***ing boy,” Mr Pezzola says in the footage, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Mr Root played the video at least four times as he argued that it makes clear Mr Pezzola’s intention was only to seize the Capitol building, and not to disrupt Congress.

He also claimed the case against the defendants was ultimately over a “six-hour delay of Congress”.

Mr Pezzola is accused of robbery and destroying property for taking a riot shield from a police officer and later using it to smash a window at the Capitol. Mr Root asked the jury if they thought “this looks like a robbery” as footage of both incidents was played in court.

The first clip shows his client tearing the shield away from an officer and leaving with it.

The second video shows another man using a 2x4 to create an initial break in a window of the Capitol, after which Mr Pezzola used the shield to clear out the rest of the glass. Mr Root argued that since the window had already been broken by another rioter, Mr Pezzola had really caused no additional damage to the property.

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi reports from the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, in Washington DC:

Good morning in America.

A second day of the Proud Boys trial for seditious conspiracy charges will begin shortly in US District Court in Washington DC.

Here’s a look at the prosecution’s opening statements from yesterday’s hearing:

US Capitol Police Inspector Thomas Lloyd, who has worked for the agency for more than 30 years, is the first witness to testify in the Proud Boys trial.

He wrote a victim impact statement about Eugene Goodman and other Capitol officers in the wake of the attack attached in a court filing last month, telling the court that his colleague averted “bloodshed” in the Capitol.

Officer Goodman famously led a mob up Capitol stairs away from the Senate lobby and has been lauded by the White House and members of Congress for his actions.

“If Officer Goodman had not led the Defendant and the rest of the mob away from the Senate Lobby and an attempt was made to breach those doors, there would have been tremendous bloodshed,” Mr Lloyd wrote.

“Several rioters would have been carried out of the building if not for the quick thinking of Officer Goodman. ... Many of my officers were not as lucky as the Defendant. Several of my officers had to be carried out of the Capitol Building on January 6 due to injuries. Some have returned to a Full Duty Status, others are in a Restricted Duty Status, and a few were not permitted to return to at all due to the severity of their injuries.”