Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants are facing charges of seditious conspiracy in one of the most significant cases arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. On Tuesday, after three months of testimony from dozens of witnesses, the case was given to the jury for deliberation. Prosecutors in Washington have presented jurors with numerous messages exchanged by Proud Boys days before the attack, which they say demonstrate the group’s peddling of false claims of a rigged election and fears over Biden taking office.
If convicted, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison for a Civil War-era charge that is challenging to prove. According to Tarrio’s lawyer, Nayib Hassan, defense attorneys have been working to separate their clients from the organization, arguing that the Proud Boys were an unorganized drinking club whose involvement in the riot was a spontaneous act fueled by Trump’s election rage. Tarrio has been targeted by the Justice Department’s investigation of the riot, which temporarily halted the certification of Biden’s election win.
During the first day of closing arguments, a prosecutor told jurors that the Proud Boys were ready for “all-out war” and saw themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies claiming the election was stolen from him. “These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trump‘s army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it,” said the prosecutor, Conor Mulroe.
The government’s case began with jury selection in December and is based on a considerable number of messages that Proud Boys members privately exchanged in encrypted chats and publicly posted on social media before, during, and after the insurrection. Defense attorneys argue there is no evidence of a conspiracy or a plan for the Proud Boys to attack the Capitol.
Tarrio’s attorney, Hassan, argued that the Department of Justice is attempting to make Tarrio a scapegoat for the former president, and Trump’s words and anger caused what occurred on January 6th. They have depicted Trump as the person who motivated the participants to “fight like hell.” The Justice Department has already secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the founder and members of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. Still, this is the first significant trial involving the leadership of the far-right Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group of self-described “Western chauvinists,” remaining a force in mainstream Republican circles.
The defendants are facing trial amidst a continuing effort in the United States to challenge the 2020 election’s legitimacy. Trump, who has repeatedly questioned the result, is facing several civil lawsuits over the Capitol insurrection. Attorney General Merrick Garland has initiated an investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election results. The defendants are likely to face 20 years in prison if they are convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Original Story at apnews.com – 2023-04-25 21:52:36
