Who are the Proud Boys?

Created in 2016 by former Vice magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys promotes itself as an all-male drinking club whose members “refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” Its leaders have expressed nationalist, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic views. While the Oath Keepers splintered after Jan. 6, the Proud Boys found new relevance on the right by targeting gay and transgender people . Extremism watchdog groups say the group operates like a gang and “right-wing fight club,” with members appearing at political demonstrations armed with batons, bear spray or guns, and glorifying subsequent brawls with leftist protesters. Several Proud Boys engaged in street violence surrounding demonstrations in Washington, D.C., in fall 2020 before the Jan. 6 riot. Tarrio set a stolen “Black Lives Matter” flag on fire during one of those protests. McInnes rejects accusations of racism, and Tarrio identifies as Afro-Cuban , saying racist comments made by members are jokes meant to rile up liberals. But neo-Nazis and white nationalists have used the group to recruit like-minded followers.

What do the Proud Boys have to do with politics and former president Donald Trump?

Starting in 2018, the Proud Boys aligned with longtime Trump political confidant Roger Stone, who has employed several of its leaders as aides, including Tarrio. Stone has worked to mobilize and bring into the Republican mainstream fringe alt-right or “alt-lite” groups such as the Proud Boys and militia movement groups like the Oath Keepers. Trump famously directed the Proud Boys to “ stand back, and stand by ” in a September 2020 presidential debate, galvanizing their recruitment. After the election, Proud Boys members turned out in force at pro-Trump rallies in Washington promoted by Stone and “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander, along with supporters of the Oath Keepers and of online Infowars show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Tarrio separately was an officer of Latinos for Trump, led by Bianca Gracia, a Jan. 6 event organizer with White House ties who has posted photos of herself and Tarrio with Trump family members. On the night before Jan. 6, Tarrio met in an underground parking garage near the Capitol with Gracia, Rhodes and Oath Keepers attorney Kellye SoRelle. Another scheduled Jan. 6 speaker and leader of another right-wing group, Vets for Trump, was also at the meeting. Tarrio and a co-defendant in December also communicated with Rhodes’s co-defendant Kelly Meggs.

Which Proud Boys are heading to trial and why?

Tarrio is charged with seditious conspiracy along with Proud Boys Ethan Nordean, of Auburn, Wash.; Joe Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Fla., Dominic Pezzola, of Rochester, N.Y., and Zachary Rehl, of Philadelphia. Pezzola is accused of breaking the first window at the Capitol, launching the breach of the building. A 10-count, 32-page indictment accused the men of mustering and coordinating the movements of as many as 200 to 300 people around the Capitol starting even before President Donald Trump directed angry supporters to march there from a White House rally. The government alleges the men fomented the riot by breaking down fencing, removing barricades and confronting police or inciting others to do so at critical points. Court records show the defendants sought to inspire or rile up “normies” or “normiecons” to “burn that city to ash today” and “smash some pigs to dust,” as some put it. Tarrio’s girlfriend allegedly shared with him a planning document called “Storm the Winter Palace,” referring to the Russian Revolution of 1917. On Jan. 4, Tarrio posted a voice message to the others stating “ … You want to storm the Capitol,” prosecutors said. The defendants celebrated and took credit for the Capitol breach afterward, prosecutors say. All face conspiracy counts: plotting to oppose by force federal authority or the inauguration of Joe Biden as president; to impede lawmakers performing their official duties; and to obstruct Congress’s confirmation of the 2020 election results on Jan. 6. They are also charged with a fourth felony count of actually obstructing Congress in addition to rioting, destruction of property and police assault charges. Pezzola is accused of stealing the police riot shield he used to smash the window. All five have pleaded not guilty. Tarrio has denied wrongdoing and that his group planned to commit violence or storm the Capitol that day, and was not even in Washington. Nordean’s defense said he arranged for a musician to play at the Airbnb where he was staying on the afternoon of Jan. 6, while Biggs said FBI agents in Florida in July 2020 asked him to share what he was learning through his efforts to oppose far-left antifa activists. The defendants’ attorneys have said the Proud Boys were only planning to protect Trump supporters after street fights erupted during demonstrations in Washington and other cities in 2020.

What is seditious conspiracy?

Seditious conspiracy is defined as an effort by two or more to “conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof.” A seditious conspiracy conviction carries the same 20-year maximum sentence as obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants face. But seditious conspiracy carries more political weight by implying participation in a rebellion against the government. Prosecutions under the law are rare. Before Jan. 6, the last prosecution was more than a decade ago, against a Christian militant group, and ended with a judge throwing out the charges . One member of the Proud Boys and three members of the Oath Keepers pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy before Rhodes and Meggs were convicted at trial Nov. 9. Before that, the last successful federal seditious conspiracy conviction at trial came in 2005 when Ali al-Timimi , a Northern Virginia cleric and U.S.-born citizen, was found guilty of inciting followers known as the “Virginia jihad network” to wage war against the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

What could we learn at trial?

Tarrio and the Proud Boys trial will also show whether U.S. prosecutors can prove a key contention — that someone not physically present on Capitol grounds can be held criminally accountable for violence there. The answer to that question and the evidence the government shows jurors at trial could provide clues to whether the government believes it can charge and win convictions against others who may have planned events for Jan. 6 but did not participate in rioting. For instance, the House Jan. 6 committee in its final report in December recommended Trump also be charged with obstructing an official proceeding. The committee alleges that he went forward with attempts to submit to Congress on Jan. 6 fake slates of electors from states he lost and to pressure Vice President Mike Pence, state officials and the Justice Department to support him despite being told by advisers that Pence could not change the outcome and there was insufficient fraud to overturn the results. The trial also could shed light on links between extremist groups and figures close to the president, as well as the intelligence failures that left the Capitol poorly defended on Jan. 6 despite detection of planning for potential violence by the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups. Evidence at the Oath Keepers trial showed that Rhodes was messaging a group that included Stone and Tarrio during the riot. Tarrio also had contact with a D.C. police lieutenant who is now under investigation . Proceedings could additionally reveal a much fuller picture of violence around the Capitol that day and any coordination by those associated with the Proud Boys in the breach. Both prosecutors and defendants have listed dozens of potential witnesses, drawing in part from more than 48 members or associates charged.

Legal Issues

What you need to know about the Proud Boys Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy trial

By Spencer S. Hsu

Rachel Weiner

and

Tom Jackman

January 12, 2023 at 10:54 a.m. EST

Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio is facing trial with four other members of the far-right group. (Allison Dinner/AP)

Former Proud Boys chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and four top lieutenants are the second group of far-right extremist leaders to face trial on seditious conspiracy charges in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. In November, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and a deputy were found guilty of that charge in the most high-profile conviction so far in the Jan. 6 investigation.

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U.S. authorities have accused leaders from both groups of steering a weeks-long effort to prevent by force the swearing-in of President Biden.

Where Rhodes was accused of calling for “civil war” and armed rebellion against federal authorities to obstruct the presidential transition and keep President Donald Trump in office, Tarrio and Proud Boys are accused of guiding violence by themselves and others at the Capitol with aggressive, early maneuvers to destroy barriers, challenge police and chase lawmakers into hiding.

The Proud Boys trial

The latest: Some Proud Boys associates worked as FBI informants and were exposed at the trial. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio knew violence could erupt on Jan. 6, prosecutors alleged. Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino testified that members believed they had to “take the reins” to keep President Donald Trump in office.

How did we get here? Former chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and four leaders of the Proud Boys face trial on charges in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. In November, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy.

Who is involved? Created in 2016, the Proud Boys is the most active right-wing extremist group in the country. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio learned of his arrest in advance from a D.C. police officer, according to a testimony. Here’s what we know about the Proud Boys’ involvement in Jan. 6.

The Proud Boys trial

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