Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio, 3 others guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy (WP)
Prosecutors alleged defendants viewed
themselves as Donald Trump’s army, intent
on keeping him in power through violence
Former Proud Boys chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and three other leaders of the far-right extremist group were found guilty Thursday of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A jury deliberated for seven days in Washington before finding Tarrio, 39, and other defendants guilty on 31 of 46 counts. The jury returned not-guilty verdicts on five counts — including acquitting one member, Dominic Pezzola, of seditious conspiracy �
�� and deadlocked on 10 others. The result marked the third decisive victory for the Justice Department in three seditious conspiracy trials held after what it called a historic act of domestic terrorism to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from
Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.
Tarrio, dressed in blue suit and vest, gazed at his relatives in the courtroom gallery as the verdict was read. The other men fixed their eyes on the jury foreman, and one gently clapped Pezzola on the back when his acquittal was read.
“If the worst happens … we’re standing on principle,” Tarrio had said in a jail call shared on social media after closing arguments April 25, making his first extended public comments since his March 2022 indictment.
Tarrio did not testify at trial, but he contradicted his defense team’s argument to jurors that he was being made “a scapegoat for Donald Trump and those in power.” Instead, Tarrio embraced hard-line Trump backers’ claims that he was being used
as “the next steppingstone” to “get to” Trump, who is running again for president. “They’re trying to get to the top and they’re trying to manipulate the 2024 election,” he said in the jail call.
[Here is a gift to you wingnuts. A free link to the story so you can see the pictures of your fellow
wing nuts in all their ‘tought guy’ armor]
https://wapo.st/3npGAJP
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