WASHINGTON: Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was on Thursday convicted of orchestrating a plot to attack the US Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the presidential election.
A jury in Washington DC found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing dozens of witnesses over more than three months. The stunning attack unfolded on January 6, 2021, on live TV.
In addition to Tarrio, Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were convicted of seditious conspiracy under a Civil War-era law — a charge that can carry up to 20 years in prison.
It’s a significant milestone for the Justice Department, which has now secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the leaders of two major extremist groups prosecutors say were intent on keeping Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House at all costs.
Tarrio was a top target of what has become the largest Justice Department investigation in American history. He led the neo-Fascist group known for street fights with left-wing activists when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his first debate with Biden.
Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Januay 6, but prosecutors said he organised and directed the attack by Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol.
Defence lawyers said there was no plan to attack the Capitol or stop Congress’ certification of Biden’s win. A lawyer for Tarrio sought to push the blame onto Trump, arguing the former President had incited the attack when he urged the crowd near the White House to “fight like hell.”