By Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand, CNN
Four members of the far-right Proud Boys have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a jury in Washington, DC, for their role to forcibly prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.
Defendants Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Enrique Tarrio and Dominic Pezzola face a range of charges, including three separate conspiracy charges, obstructing the Electoral College vote and tampering with evidence.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the seditious conspiracy charge against Pezzola.
The verdicts are still being read in court.
During the trial, using messages and videos posted by the defendants and other members of the group, prosecutors laid out the case that the Proud Boys, animated by Trump and his election lies after the 2020 defeat, began calling for violence and revolution against the incoming Biden presidency.
Members of the group saw Biden and others on the left as a threat to the country, according to prosecutors, and messaged one another about the need for “war,” “revolution,” and firing squads for traitors.
On January 6, 2021, prosecutors said, many of the defendants didn’t attend Trump’s speech that day but instead began a march to the Capitol.
Proud Boys were at the front lines of the mob on Capitol grounds and were there when the first barriers were breached. Prosecutors have alleged that leaders of the group riled members up and communicated with them, through hand signals, to move ahead.
After rioters had arrived at Senate wing doors of the Capitol building, Pezzola used a police riot shield he stole during the attack to break open a window, prosecutors said, which rioters entered the Capitol through.
Defense attorneys have argued that their clients never had a plan to storm the Capitol and stop the electoral college vote that day. The messages and videos show nothing more than stupid, vulgar rhetoric, defense attorneys said, hardly a seditious plot against the US government.
Often teetering into disarray with legal battles, evidentiary disputes, sealed hearings, countless calls for a mistrial and several shouting matches with the judge, the trial concluded Tuesday with the final closing arguments from defense counsel and federal prosecutors.
During the trial, jurors listened to testimony from multiple officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 as well as FBI agents who investigated the Proud Boys and testimony from several Proud Boys members including two of the defendants, none of whom said there was ever a specific plan to take the Capitol.
The countless delays, brought on by newly unveiled evidence and informants, a juror who believed they were being followed, and internecine squabbles among attorneys pushed a trial originally estimated to last five to seven weeks to stretch across four months.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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