Seditious conspiracy convictions

Trump and his minions may think the January 6 insurrectionists are patriots, but a jury has convicted four Proud Boys of the serious crime of seditious conspiracy.

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the right-wing extremist Proud Boys group, has been convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Three of his co-defendants, including top lieutenants of the group, were also convicted, while one defendant was acquitted of the charge.

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In a partial verdict announced Thursday morning, top Proud Boys lieutenants Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs were also convicted of seditious conspiracy, along with up-and-coming Proud Boys member Zachary Rehl, Politico reported. That afternoon, jurors acquitted Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member who was seen on video violently smashing a stolen riot shield into a window of the Capitol building, of the charge.

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Tarrio, Nordean, Biggs, and Rehl were also convicted of conspiracy to obstruct Congress.

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Pezzola was convicted of robbery for stealing a riot shield from a U.S. Capitol Police officer, but all five men were acquitted of assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

  Law & Crime

I bet the Capitol police have a quarrel with that.

The verdict, coming after nearly four months of testimony and six days of jury deliberations, marks a significant win for the government, whose wide-ranging prosecution of Jan. 6 rioters has already resulted in multiple seditious conspiracy convictions, including four guilty pleas and six jury verdicts against leaders and members of the far-right antigovernment Oath Keepers militia group.

One of those guilty pleas came from high-ranking Proud Boys member Jeremy Bertino, who testified for the government at the trial. Bertino told jurors that members of the group had an understanding and an agreement that they would do whatever was necessary to keep Trump in power.

And they'll all be asking for pardons if Trump gets back in the oval.

Opening arguments from prosecutors reminded jurors of Trump’s “stand back and stand by” edict to the Proud Boys — issued during a September 2020 presidential debate — and said that the extremist group was prepared to engage in violence in order disrupt the peaceful transition of presidential power and keep Trump in office.

“These men did not stand back,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough said in opening arguments. “They did not stand by. Instead, they mobilized.”

Well, no. They stood back and stood by until Trump called them to the Capital on January 6, for which he should be on trial, too.

Attorneys for the defendants also argued that Trump — who earlier that day told his supporters at the so-called “Stop the Steal rally” to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell” — was the real culprit.

One of them anyway.

“It was Donald Trump’s words,” said Nayib Hassan, Tarrio’s lawyer, during closing arguments, according to Politico. “It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th."

100%.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 05/05/2023:  This was my reaction to the one not convicted (but I'm not sure I would have voted against it).

Oh, I'm sure he's on Jack Smith's list.