Proud Boys leaders convicted of Capitol attack
- September 1, 2023
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This Thursday, a US court sentenced two leaders of the Proud Boys far-right group, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl, to 17 and 15 years in prison for the
This Thursday, a US court sentenced two leaders of the Proud Boys far-right group, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl, to 17 and 15 years in prison for the January 2021 Capitol attack.
Biggs and Rel were part of the Proud Boys’ so-called “Ministry of Self-Defense” through which they established chain of command, recruited members and planned how to carry out the attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Rel, Biggs, Ethan Nordin and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, a Cuban, were found guilty in May of conspiring to sedition. The prosecution wanted 30 years in prison for Rel and 33 years for Biggs.
On Thursday, the Justice Department said that “they directed and participated in all major hacks of the Capitol building on January 6.”
Joseph Biggs. Photo: Spec.
In May, a co-defendant, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of sedition charges but found guilty of assault, resisting a law enforcement officer and stealing government property.
The guilty plea was made after a week of deliberations in federal court in Washington.
Rel was president of the Proud Boys in Philadelphia. According to local newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer, he wept this Thursday when he learned of the verdict, apologized to his family and said he no longer wanted to have anything to do with politics.
“I’m done with all this. No more lying to other people who don’t care about me,” he said.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors showed messages and videos posted by the accused and other members of the group calling for violence and revolution against the change of president.
According to the prosecution, the messages spoke of the need for “war”, “revolution” and the execution of traitors.
On the day of the attack, Rel sprayed pepper spray in the face of a police officer and Pezzola smashed one of the building’s windows, allowing several people, including Biggs, to enter the property, according to the Justice Department.
Along with fellow members of the Proud Boys, Biggs and Rel posted several videos on social media glorifying the attack, calling it “historic”, as the statement details.
Nordin’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for this Friday at 2:00 pm local time, with Tarrio’s conviction announced Tuesday at 2:00 pm.
District Judge Timothy Kelly said Thursday that the Constitution gives citizens “many important rights that Americans have fought and died for,” stressing, according to CNN, that the events of January 6 “broke the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power.”
That day, about 10,000 people – most of Trump’s supporters – marched to the Capitol, and about 800 stormed the building as Biden’s victory in the 2020 election was confirmed. There were five deaths and about 140 wounded agents.
Trump himself is being accused in Washington of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. This is one of four criminal cases brought against him, and in all of them he pleaded not guilty, most recently in Georgia this Thursday for attempting to rig the election results. the result of the presidential election in that state. EFE
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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