Category Archives: Proud Boys

Christopher Worrell at April 26, 2022, Collier County BOC

Christopher Worrell addressing Collier County commissioners at their April 26 meeting, calling himself a "political prisoner."

Naples Daily News

A Washington, D.C., judge has found an East Naples man guilty for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capital insurrection.

Christopher Worrell, 52, opted to let a judge hear the evidence rather than going before a jury.

On Jan. 6, 2021, after the loss of President Donald Trump's reelection, a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building. The mob hoped to prevent Congress from counting electoral college votes and keep then-President-elect Joe Biden from power.

More: Trial for East Naples man charged in Jan. 6 mob begins Wednesday without jury

More: East Naples 'Proud Boy' trial includes evidence in the 100s for Jan. 6 Capitol riot

A video of the attack appeared to show Worrell and others accused ofstorming the building, attacking police officers, breaking building windows and wreaking other damage. Worrell said he is a member of The Proud Boys, a far-right, neo-fascist group that advocates for and participates in politically motivated violent events

Worrell's trial took 10 days, with the verdict delivered by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth on Friday. Lamberth set sentencing for Aug. 18.

More: Florida man charged with throwing explosive device at Jan. 6 riot, hurting officers

More: Collier man charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot waives jury trial, guardian dines with Trump

Worrell had pleaded not guilty to all the original charges. He faced 19 counts.

Lamberth found Worrell guilty of seven counts:

As of mid-March, at least975 peoplewere charged with federal crimesfor their roles in the riot 502 have pleaded guilty and 382 have been sentenced. Of those, at least 192 people have received prison sentences.

Worrell is among at least 111 Florida residents charged in connection with the mob.

A clerk at the Washington, D.C., federal court was unable to confirm whether Worrell is in custody. His attorney, William Shipley, and court-approved custodian Trish Priller, 52, who used to work for the Naples Daily News, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

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East Naples 'Proud Boy' guilty in attack on Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol. - Naples Daily News

Kansas City-area Proud Boy William Chrestman will likely spend at least three more months in jail while awaiting a court hearing in his Capitol riot case.

A federal judge on Monday granted a request by the Justice Department to continue for 90 days a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. The new hearing date is set for Aug. 4 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Chrestman, 49, was charged with five other Proud Boys in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. But unlike the others, the former sheet metal worker from Olathe is incarcerated, held without bond since his arrest on Feb. 11, 2021.

The Army veteran was captured on numerous videos alongside other Proud Boys during the insurrection, dressed in tactical gear, carrying an ax handle and stirring up the crowd with raucous chants.

In a motion filed Monday, the government said that a continuance was necessary because both sides need additional time to attempt to resolve this matter pretrial and because the Justice Department is continuing to provide global discovery to the defendants.

Given the volume of discovery that has been and is being produced, a continuance will provide the defendants with the opportunity to meaningfully review such discovery and determine how best to proceed, including making decisions regarding the filing of pretrial motions, the government said.

It also said that if plea negotiations fail, the defendants and the government will need reasonable time to prepare for trial.

The government said it had consulted with the attorneys for Chrestman and the others charged with him and they did not oppose the motion.

In granting the request, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly found that the ends of justice served by this continuance outweigh the best interests of the public and Defendants in a speedy trial

Should plea negotiations not be fruitful, he said, the parties and counsel should be prepared to set a trial date at the next status conference.

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Mondays action is the latest in a string of continuances in the case. The last hearing was March 2, 2022. Since then, the hearings have been pushed back eight times.

Chrestmans family and other supporters have long complained that he continues to be held without bond. He is among the Capitol riot defendants incarcerated the longest even though he hasnt been convicted. He and roughly 20 other Jan. 6 inmates in the District of Columbia jail, many of them charged with serious crimes including assaulting police, are referred to as political prisoners by former President Donald Trump and other GOP hard-liners.

Chrestman was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2021 along with Kansas City-area Proud Boys Christopher Kuehne, of Olathe; Louis Colon, of Blue Springs; and Ryan Ashlock, of Gardner and Arizona siblings Felicia and Cory Konold.

The indictment alleged that they planned with each other, and with others known and unknown, to forcibly enter the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and to stop, delay, and hinder the Congressional proceeding occurring that day.

Chrestman also was charged with threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer. All except Chrestman were released on personal recognizance bonds pending trial.

Colon pleaded guilty in April 2022 to one count of civil disorder, a felony, and awaits sentencing. Ashlock pleaded guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced in November to 70 days in jail and 12 months of supervised release.

The cases of Kuehne and the Konolds are ongoing, and like Chrestman, they were scheduled to be in court Tuesday via video conference. Kuehne no longer lives in Olathe. Last fall, after the judge granted his request to move out of state, he sold his house and relocated to Arizona.

The far-right Proud Boys have been at the forefront of the federal investigation into the attack.

Just this month, jurors found four leaders including former national chairman Henry Enrique Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, among other charges. A fifth was found guilty of charges that included assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and robbery involving government property.

A sixth defendant pleaded guilty on April 8, 2022, to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers. Another Proud Boys leader pleaded guilty in October to seditious conspiracy and cooperated with the prosecution, testifying as the Justice Departments star witness in the recent trial.

The organization of self-described Western chauvinists known for street-level violence and confrontations with anti-fascists at protests received national attention in September 2020 when, during the first presidential debate, Trump was asked if he was willing to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. Trump responded that the Proud Boys should stand back and stand by.

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KC Proud Boy jailed more than 2 years in Jan. 6 case to stay there after another delay - Yahoo News

US Capitol attack

Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio were convicted but experts worry what role the groups may or not play in the future path of violent extremism

MacKenzie Ryan

Sat 13 May 2023 05.00 EDT

The recent convictions of the Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has raised questions about the future of both extremist groups and what role they may or not play in the future path of violent extremism in the US.

Researchers who monitor American far-right organizations said the Oath Keepers have in effect been decimated, with only a handful of chapters remaining, while the Proud Boys are ramping up efforts to protest at LGBTQ events and taking cues from larger national conservative conversations about hostility to transgender rights.

The impact of criminal litigation, really any litigation, legal accountability has been quite different [for both groups], said Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director of research and analysis for the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). So I dont know that the solution for all groups engaged in violence and conspiracy are going to have the same outcome from the same accountability measure.

Carroll Rivas said since the arrests of Rhodes and other Oath Keepers members, it only took about five months for the group to go from nearly 100 chapters to just a handful remaining active. I can tell you I dont see as many Oath Keeper bumper stickers around, she reported.

The Oath Keepers, Carroll Rivas explained, were structured with their leader, Stewart Rhodes, assuming all the primary roles. Carroll Rivas describes Rhodess conviction and potential 25-year prison sentence as cutting off the head of the dragon and undermining the groups strategy of recruiting law enforcement, military veterans, and public officials.

They were quasi-following some of the rules with a legal structure and non-profit status, Carroll Rivas said, and their strategy focused on a purposeful recruitment of people who are respected members of society in a greater attempt to wield power. Oath Keeper members joined something they didnt necessarily believe would participate in unacceptable activities, let alone anything criminal, she explained.

When something happens like January 6, when things get out of hand, it pushes the everyday membership away from the organization itself, not from its beliefs, but it definitely pushed them away from the Oath Keepers name.

Experts are most worried about the splintering of the far right when it comes to people who then act alone or in small groups unaffiliated to anyone else: a phenomenon that is extremely hard for law enforcement to track and infiltrate.

Theres a steady drumbeat of people not trusting the government, engaging in conspiracy theories and grievances, and encouraging people to arm themselves, said Oren Segal, vice-president of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism, and a world of people online that share that view. That means there are alternatives to the Oath Keepers for people still wanting to be engaged in far-right activities.

Will those people look elsewhere for more extreme, like-minded groups or will they lay low? It remains to be seen, said Segal

Today, extremists can choose their own adventure, pulling bits of ideology from white supremacy and anti-government groups. As a result, Segal said: There is a lot more opportunity to create strains of anti-government theory that will animate people into action and its much harder to track.

Worryingly, researchers are finding it difficult to know when a potential extremist is moving from rhetoric to action. When the language of extremism is so similar to general public discussion, its more difficult to know where the next attack is coming from, Segal said.

But the Proud Boys, unlike the Oath Keepers, have not splintered.

In the wake of Tarrios conviction, the Proud Boys are ramping up their activity, and trying to disrupt LGBTQ+ events, such as protesting at drag queen story hours. The Proud Boys, which have many local chapters throughout the country and decentralized leadership, have realized they dont need to travel thousands of miles and can shift the social norm in their backyard, said Segal.

He added: They glom on to a contentious public issue in order to try to attract people. Segal argued that the Proud Boys were doubling down in their attempts to target the LGBTQ+ events because of the the baseless narrative that LGBTQ community are grooming children.

Unlike the Oath Keepers, which had a specific anti-government ideology, Segal explained the Proud Boys were taking strains from different ideologies, such as the rise of Christian nationalism and opposition to what they view as the radical left.

The Proud Boys are also not the only extremist group that is targeting the LGBTQ+ community, Segal said. White supremacists with a history of violence are engaging in it almost weekly. Segal called it a toxic combination of groups with a history of violence and hateful ideology, saying it was the challenge of our time to mitigate that threat.

Researchers expressed concerns about Proud Boys actions in the aftermath of January 6 and Tarrios conviction because of their long record of engaging in violence.

Part of their ethos, part of the attraction to others is that they are shamelessly militant, said Segal. Violent extremes and grievances against the government are here to stay, he explained, saying the question is how the US can minimize their impact. Accountability is part of that despite how its spun, he argued.

America is not the healthiest democracy right now, Segal explained. How do you win hearts and minds in this country? There is no fairytale ending to an insurrection.

This article was amended on 14 May 2023 to correct the spelling of Oren Segals name.

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Proud Boys and Oath Keepers: what is their future with top leaders jailed? - The Guardian US

The ReAwaken America tour, a traveling roadshow featuring self-declared Christian nationalists, rolled into Miami over the weekend, bringing some 50 speakers uniformly declaring the inevitability or necessity of a second term for former president Donald Trump. Others made more arcane promises, such as conservative podcaster Stacy Whiteds forecast of an imminent transference of wealth from the wicked to the righteous that would make those in the audience rich.

ReAwaken America events have been a hub for election deniers, conspiracy theorists and those who discuss immigration as a plot to replace us us being, by implication, White evangelical Christians.

On this score, Miami may appear to be an odd choice for the tours organizers: More than half of the citys residents were born outside the United States and more than 70 percent are Latino. Yet there is evidence that white supremacy and Christian nationalism have made their way into the Latino community in the United States, including among the most violent fringe of those movements.

The shooter who killed eight people at a mall in Allen, Tex., was identified as Mauricio Garcia, a Latino man whose online activity showed an interest in white supremacy.

Journalists found that Garcia posted photos of Nazi tattoos on his arm and torso, including a large Nazi hooked cross and the SS lightning bolt logo of Adolf Hitlers paramilitary forces. He also made references encouraging violence against women, celebrating rape and using vocabulary of the male supremacist incel, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Another prominent Latino linked to far-right groups is Enrique Tarrio, who is Afro-Cuban, and the former leader of the paramilitary group the Proud Boys who was found guilty this month of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

But these examples should not come as surprises, according to Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, who said that the spread of xenophobic prejudice and bigotry online has helped make intolerance transnational and transethnic.

Misogyny, a fascination with fascism, weapon fetishization are things that, I think, define aggressive masculinity. That cuts across a variety of ethnicities and subcultures, Levin said.

Levin also said that Latino Americans can be drawn to mainstream conservative ideas about the value of hard work and so-called family values and can come into contact with groups online that may lead them down a rabbit hole where the direction and the depth and the acceptability of aggression become more fixed.

The increasing numbers of Latinos joining Pentecostal or other evangelical churches mean that they increasingly hear messages from prosperity-gospel preachers, including those who believe Trump was ordained by God to be president.

In 2020 the Trump reelection campaign launched Evangelicals for Trump with a visit to El Rey Jesus Global, a Latino megachurch in Miami led by pastor Guillermo Maldonado. El Rey is part of the Word of Faith network, a subset of the Pentecostal movement that espouses a form of the prosperity gospel.

In his 2020 book, Prosperity Gospel Latinos and Their American Dream, sociologist and Presbyterian minister Tony Tian-Ren Lin said the prosperity gospel shows immigrants how they may thrive in a late-capitalist society.

The pursuit of Prosperity Gospel holiness is equivalent to the pursuit of the American dream, he writes.

The Rev. Elizabeth Rios, who has served as a pastor of a Pentecostal church in Florida, said she has seen Latinos embrace Christian nationalist ideas. They do think that the U.S. has a special relationship with God, and that its supposed to be a Christian country, she said.

These immigrant groups have gone from being newcomers to kind of established. They have now had some access to privileges that are associated with whiteness, she said.

Rios, who started an online and justice-oriented faith-based community in Florida, said its crucial for local churches to address Christian nationalism. The church, she said, is where Latinos get their spiritual sustenance and their identity. Its the church that can disciple people out of Christian nationalism.

The Rev. Carlos L. Malav, president of the Latino Christian National Network, said that white Christian nationalism has infiltrated many Latino Christians in such a powerful way that they are not even aware of the position they are supporting.

Some are aware, he said, and unabashed in supporting some of the tenets of this ideology.

Malavs organization is planning a summit in September to discuss how far-right ideas are popping up in Latino Christian spaces, particularly in evangelical and Pentecostal houses of worship. The gathering will be at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta and will be limited to about 60 key Latino Christian leaders from across the country.

A new survey of 6,212 Americans by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found that Americans who are supportive of Christian nationalism generally hold less favorable views of immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, and are more likely to hold negative views of Muslims and Jews.

About 65 percent of White Christian nationalism sympathizers and adherents disagree that white supremacy is still a major problem in the United States, nearly twice as high as Americans overall in the survey. Additionally, 66 percent of white Christian nationalism sympathizers and 81 percent of adherents believe in replacement theory, the view that immigrants are invading the United States to replace the countrys current culture.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that fewer than a third of Americans, or 29 percent, qualify as Christian nationalists, and of those, two-thirds define themselves as white evangelicals.

Support for Christian nationalism is significantly smaller among Asian American, mixed race, Black and Hispanic Protestants, but that shifts among those who identify as evangelical. White (29 percent), Hispanic (25 percent) and Black (20 percent) Christians who describe themselves as evangelical are each about five times as likely to be adherents of Christian nationalism as those of the same racial or ethnic groups who are Christian but not evangelical.

The Latino Christian National Network is made up of leaders of Latino ministries and denominations, including mainline Christians, evangelicals and Pentecostals, according to Malav. It was formed, he said, with an awareness that progressive and conservative faith communities alike could easily be manipulated and divided.

Malav said the September summit will look at the anti-immigrant nature of Christian nationalism and explore colonialism in Latin America and its relationship with Christian nationalism.

Others see it differently.

Tony Suarez, the chief operating officer of the evangelical National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said there are extreme ideologies that are masquerading under the guise of Christian nationalism that are dangerous.

But what is not dangerous, Suarez said, is the concept of being extremely devoted to ones faith and ones country.

Suarez said Christian nationalism is a derogatory label directed toward evangelicals like him who stand against transgender rights, who believe marriage is between a man and a woman and who are pro-life, from the womb to the tomb.

I would hope that they have some evangelicals and some people that are pro-biblical marriage, pro-life, that are at the table engaging in the conversation, he said of the summit. Otherwise, its not a true reflection of the entire Christian Latino community.

(This story was was reported with support from the Stiefel Freethought Foundation.) Religion News Service

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Latino faith leaders to gather for summit on Christian nationalism - The Washington Post

Members of the extremist groupProud Boys charged with sedition in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol want to subpoena former President Donald Trump as a witness in the high-profile trial.

Norman Pattis, one of defendant Joseph Biggs' attorneys, first informed the court of the defense's intent to call the former president to testify last month, asking for the government's assistance in serving him.When the issue was raised in court then, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly gave no indication whether he would permit the subpoena.

On Wednesday, Pattis raised the matter again and told the court his effort would be joined byattorneys for co-defendant Dominic Pezzola. Attorneys for Biggs and Pezzola did not reply to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Proud Boys trial reveal: D.C. police lieutenant warned Proud Boys leader ahead of pre-Jan. 6 arrest: trial evidence

But the effort to put Trump on the witness stand will likely face an uphill battle, as it's unclear whether Kelly will rulethe former president's testimony admissible at trial.

The Proud Boys on trial Biggs, Pezzola, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl andleader Enrique Tarrio face trial for sedition and other alleged crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, uses a megaphone to address people gathered at the Torch of Friendship to remember the one year anniversary of the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2021 in Miami, Florida.

Placingblame on Trumpfor the violent Capitol attackhas been central to the Proud Boys' defenses against numerous charges related to the riot.

Trumpsaid the election was stolen, told his supporters to go to the Capitol and unleashed the mob on Jan. 6, 2021, Sabino Jauregui, attorney for longtime Proud Boys leader Tarrio,told a D.C. jury in opening remarksin January. Tarrio, he argued,is justthe government's "scapegoat."

Too hard to blame Trump, too hard to bring him to the witness stand with his army of lawyers Instead they go for the easy target. They go for Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys," Jauregui said.

Story continues

A spokespersonfor Trump did notrespond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Opening remarks: Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio's attorney says Trump to blame for Jan. 6

Former President Donald Trump speaks to guests at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 8.

The bid is a long shot, according to Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School.

The Proud Boys attorneys would have to prove why Trump should be put on the stand an uphill battle, he said.

The defendants are being charged with their own insular criminal acts and intent to use the protest to interfere with the certification, Turley said in an email. I do not know the basis for the (defenses) claim.

The move would likely cause considerable delay to the trial, Turley added.

"The court is likely leery of such a demand," he said.

Donald Trump: Meta to reverse former President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram ban

The Proud Boys on trial are not the first Jan. 6 defendants to point the finger at the former president. In February 2022,Ohio attorney Sam Shamansky said he planned to use a "public authority defense" for his client, Jan. 6 rioter Dustin Thompson.

"Trump and his co-conspirators concocted this ridiculous lie that our election was stolenand democracy wasat stake," Shamansky told the Columbus Dispatch, part of theUSA TODAY Network, last year. Without that message, Thompson would not have journeyed to the Capitol, he said.

A month later, U.S. District JudgeReggie Waltonrejected Shamansky's bid to have Trump testify, ruling that the value of the former president's testimony is "substantially outweighed by the danger of confusing the issues and misleading the jury," according to court documents.

Subpoenaing Trump: Columbus lawyer defending client in Capitol insurrection case wants to subpoena Trump

In the sedition trial of five Oath Keepers last year, leader Stewart Rhodes' attorneys mounted a novel legal defense that reliedon an arcane and controversial interpretation of the Insurrection Act, a statute from the 19th century.

They claimedRhodes and the other Oath Keepers believed at any moment on or before Jan. 6, 2021, Trump would invoke the Insurrection Act and call upon an unorganized militia to intervene with the certification of what they considered a fraudulent election.The former president threatened to invoke the act, but never did.

Rhodes and a top deputy, Kelly Meggs, were found guilty of sedition last year.

Oath Keepers trial: A 1800s-inspired defense meets most significant Jan. 6 prosecution yet

Members of the Proud Boys, including Joe Biggs of Ormond Beach, third from right, and other right-wing demonstrators march across the Steel Bridge on Aug. 17, 2019, in Portland, Oregon. Biggs had organized an "End Domestic Terrorism" rally there as an anti-Antifa rally.

Trump and the Proud Boys came to be affiliated during a September 2020 presidential debate when the former president told the extremist group to "stand back and stand by" after being asked tocondemn violent white supremacistgroups.

The comment increased the groups membership exponentially, according to one Proud Boys member'sdeposition before a House committee that investigated the riot.

Prosecutors have pointed to those comments and Trump's Dec. 19, 2020 tweet urging supporters to travel to D.C. for a Jan. 6 rallyBe there. Will be wild, Trump wroteas evidence that the Proud Boys were galvanized by the former president's comments.

But whether a jury would find the defense's counterpoint that those comments led to the events of Jan. 6, 2021 convincing is yet to be seen, according toJon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

"When you look at the conduct of the defendants, certainly as it's been alleged, when you look at the build up, when you look at the scope of the conspiracya defense argument that would boil down effectively to 'the President told us to do it' would certainly seem to fall short," Lewis said.

'We are bigger than Jesus.': Telegram messages show how Trump's 2020 comments galvanized Proud Boys

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Proud Boys trial: Jan 6 defendants want to subpoena Trump to testify

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Proud Boys on trial for Jan. 6 riot want to subpoena Donald Trump to ...

Washington Amid numerous investigations at county, state, and local levels into his political and economic activity, former President Donald Trump finds himself at the center of a brewing legal fight, this time in the ongoing Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial.

Attorneys for one of the defendants, Joseph Biggs, briefly mentioned in court on Thursday that they had drafted, and hoped to serve, Trump with a subpoena to compel his testimony in the proceedings connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Norm Pattis, a lawyer for Biggs, told the court Trump's role in the Capitol riot might warrant his presence as a witness for the defense in the case.

According to a copy of the drafted subpoena obtained by CBS News, Biggs' legal team wants Trump's compliance by the beginning of next month, but the legal paper has yet to be served to the former president, and no attempt to actually compel his testimony has been made. If it continues to go unsuccessfully delivered, the subpoena will carry no legal weight unless further legal action is taken.

Judge Timothy Kelly presiding over the trial in which five Proud Boys, including leader Enrique Tarrio, are accused of sedition has yet to make his position on subpoenaing a former president known, but the Justice Department will likely ask the court to toss the request as irrelevant and inappropriate.

Biggs' attorneys declined a request for comment.

In the high-profile proceedings that have so far spanned numerous weeks, prosecutors have argued before the jury that the Proud Boys heeded Trump's calls to oppose Joe Biden's presidency and violently took to the Capitol grounds in support of the former president. Using their fellow rioters in the mob as a component of their broader conspiracy, the Justice Department alleges, the defendants attempted to use force to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

Defense attorneys have argued Trump's influence over the Proud Boys' alleged crimes warrants further examination.

Other Jan. 6 defendants have made similar attempts to call Trump as a witness, to no avail, after judges and prosecutors alike opposed the moves. Last year, an Ohio man tried to argue Trump's speech near the White House authorized his actions. Dustin Thompson was convicted by a jury after less than three hours of deliberation and later sentenced to three years in prison.

Like those of defendants before them, the efforts by Biggs' attorneys on Thursday face numerous legal hurdles that will likely hinder their ability to successfully secure Trump's testimony.

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Proud Boys member drafts subpoena to call Trump as a witness in Jan. 6 ...

Former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio and four allies are charged with seditious conspiracy, a plot to violently keep Trump in office anchored in part by preventing Congress from certifying the election on Jan. 6, 2021.

The prospect of Trump appearing on the witness stand seems remote, but until Thursday, the intention of the defendants to call the former president was uncertain.

Were going to ask the government for assistance in serving Mr. Trump, Pattis said.

The Proud Boys defense attorneys have hinted at times throughout the trial that Trump bears responsibility for the actions of their own clients and thousands of others who marched on the Capitol at his urging. Putting him on the witness stand, while still a longshot, would give them a chance to probe his mindset under oath in a way that federal investigators have been unable to so far.

Other Jan. 6 defendants have sought Trumps testimony but gotten no support from judges, who found their claims to need the former presidents testimony dubious. But the Proud Boys may have the clearest case, given Trumps explicit reference to the group during the debate and the groups centrality to the riot that unfolded on Jan. 6.

Prosecutors say the Proud Boys are singularly responsible for the violence that unfolded, helping trigger key breaches of police defenses including the actual breach of the building itself, when Dominic Pezzola, one of the five defendants, used a stolen riot shield to smash a Senate-wing window.

U.S. District Court Judge Tim Kelly didnt give any indication Thursday about whether he would permit the subpoena of the former president.

Tarrio has been a figure of interest to investigators not just for his role on Jan. 6 but for his ties to figures in Trumps orbit like Roger Stone. Tarrio took a White House tour on Dec. 12, 2020 that drew alarm from the Secret Service and may have reached the ears of then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Prosecutors have also shown evidence of Tarrios close relationship with a D.C. police officer who appeared to repeatedly give him inside information about law enforcement matters including Tarrios own subsequent arrest on Jan. 4 for burning a Black Lives Matter flag at a pro-Trump rally in December.

Prosecutors are expected to call North Carolina Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and is cooperating with the government to the stand on Tuesday. During arguments related to pieces of evidence the government intends to introduce, prosecutors displayed messages showing Bertino lamenting the groups failure to stop the transfer of power on the night of Jan. 6.

We failed. The House is meeting again. That woman died for nothing, Bertino said, referencing Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she attempted to breach the House chamber.

Bertino was also in a series of leadership chats ahead of Jan. 6 but didnt go to Washington in part because of injuries he suffered when he was stabbed during a melee in December.

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Proud Boys leaders facing Jan. 6 charges say they intend to subpoena ...

Delilahs Gentlemens Club bartender gets probation for storming the Capitol with aspiring Proud Boys  The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Delilahs Gentlemens Club bartender gets probation for storming the Capitol with aspiring Proud Boys - The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Capitol riot trial for Proud Boys leaders promised to be a historic showcase for some of the most compelling evidence of an alleged plot by far-right extremists to halt the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.

One month into the trial, there have been plenty of fireworks, but mostly when the jury wasn't in the courtroom.

Lawyers representing the five Proud Boys charged with seditious conspiracy have repeatedly sparred with U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly during breaks in testimony. At least 10 times, those lawyers have argued in vain for him to declare a mistrial.

The judge regularly admonishes lawyers for interrupting him and has threatened to hold them in contempt if it continues. Two defense lawyers at one point floated the idea of withdrawing from the case if Kelly did not rule in their favor on evidentiary matters.

The barrage of bickering has bogged down the proceedings in the federal courthouse, where the Capitol can be seen in the distance from some windows. One recent day in court, defense lawyer Norm Pattis compared the trial to visiting "Gilligan's Island," the title and setting of the 1960s-era sitcom about a shipwrecked boat's crew and passengers.

"It was supposed to be a three-hour tour, and people were stranded together for an infinite period while they worked out their interpersonal difficulties," Pattis quipped.

The tension in the courtroom reflects the high stakes for the Justice Department and the defendants. It's one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio is perhaps the highest profile person to be charged so far in the assault.

The Proud Boys face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of seditious conspiracy. Acquittals on the rarely used charge which strikes at the heart of what prosecutors say happened that day would be a setback in the government's Jan. 6 investigation, which continues to grow two years later.

Tarrio and four lieutenants are accused of participating in a weekslong plot to keep Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House after he defeated then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Prosecutors say it culminated with Proud Boys mounting a coordinated assault on the Capitol alongside hundreds of other Trump supporters.

Defense lawyers say there's no evidence that the Proud Boys plotted to attack the Capitol and stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6. The lawyers claim prosecutors are mischaracterizing bellicose online banter as a violent plot. They tried unsuccessfully to move the trial out of Washington, arguing that there was no way their clients could get a fair trial in front of a District of Columbia jury.

The Proud Boys trial is on a pace to last several weeks longer than last year's landmark trial for Oath Keepers group leaders and members, who were charged in a separate Jan. 6 case.

In November, a jury convicted Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and another leader of seditious conspiracy after three days of jury selection, 26 days of testimony and two days of closing arguments. A separate trial involving members of the Oath Keepers who face a slew of charges, but not seditious conspiracy also got underway this month.

Jury selection for the Proud Boys case lasted 12 days. After the trial's opening statements on Jan. 12, jurors have heard 16 days of testimony through Friday. Prosecutors are expected to rest their case in late February or early March before the defense team begins presenting testimony.

A dozen of the first 14 prosecution witnesses in the Proud Boys trial have been FBI agents and other law enforcement officials. Jurors also have heard testimony from a former Proud Boys member who cut a plea deal with prosecutors and a British documentary filmmaker who was embedded with the Proud Boys on Jan. 6.

Jurors are often kept waiting in the wings while defense lawyers challenge the admissibility of evidence. In one such exchange, Pattis urged Kelly to reconsider a ruling allowing prosecutors to introduce posts from the social media platform Parler.

"We're offering you a lifeline here because we think you erred," Pattis told the judge.

"Well, I'm offering you the lifeline of obeying my order," Kelly responded.

Kelly has frequently scolded defense lawyers for interrupting and talking over him, warning that he could find them in contempt. At one point, lawyer Nicholas Smith interrupted the judge while the judge was chastising him for an earlier interruption.

One of Tarrio's lawyers asked for a mistrial after a witness said that Tarrio had burned a Black Lives Matter banner at a protest in Washington during a December 2020 demonstration by Trump supporters.

Tarrio was arrested two days before the Jan. 6 riot, charged with vandalizing the banner and ordered to leave the city. Kelly ruled that prosecutors could discuss the vandalism, but not specific details about the banner. Prosecutors allege Tarrio remained in command of the Proud Boys on the ground on Jan. 6 even though he wasn't there.

Carmen Hernandez, a lawyer for Proud Boys chapter leader Zachary Rehl, has repeatedly moved for mistrials, including when she accused a prosecutor of using inflammatory and misleading allegations in his opening statement. Hernandez asked for a mistrial after jurors saw violent videos of Proud Boys street fighting at rallies before Jan. 6.

"It wouldn't be a day in this trial without a mistrial motion," said Kelly, who denied her request.

At least one juror may have sent a signal about the sluggish pace of the trial.

J. Daniel Hull, one of Biggs' lawyers, told the judge on Jan. 19 that he saw a juror nodding off that morning. In response, the judge told lawyers that "focusing their presentations might help that issue."

The rancor started before the jury was even sworn in.

A day before the trial started, Hernandez said she felt compelled to withdraw from the case if the judge allowed prosecutors to show a particular video as evidence. Smith, who represents Proud Boys chapter leader Ethan Nordean, followed up with a similar comment about withdrawing if the judge didn't rule in his favor on an evidentiary matter.

Pattis, a Connecticut-based lawyer who represents Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs, was briefly sidelined from the case after a judge in his home state suspended his license to practice law for six months. The decision stemmed from Pattis' handling of confidential documents during his representation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in a civil lawsuit. Kelly allowed Pattis to rejoin the trial after opening statements once an appeals court postponed his suspension.

The judge didn't bring jurors into court on Feb. 6 so the lawyers could argue about the relevance of messages that Proud Boys posted on the Telegram platform. Pattis warned that the Telegram evidence alone could add two weeks to the trial "if we're not careful."

"I jokingly told my office I hope to be home by Easter today at the rate things are going," Pattis added.

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Jan. 6 trial of Proud Boys leaders plagued by bickering between lawyers ...

Trump basically said to go fuck them up, Biggs said on Parler, the social media platform popular with conservatives. This makes me so happy.

His public comments ignited a furor among Proud Boys self-described elders its national leadership who worried that Biggs embrace of violent rhetoric could undercut the groups reputation.

Mainstream republican support hinges on what the president says about us, said Proud Boy Nicholas Ochs. Right now its good.

Trump has been a central aspect of the Proud Boys trial, a specter looming in the background as the group put itself on a path to descend on Washington and, ultimately, take a central role in the breach of the Capitol. Dozens of private chats and text chains revealed by prosecutors show how Proud Boys leaders keyed off Trumps comments and used them to both drive recruitment but also attempt to manage their growing but unruly rank-and-file.

Biggs, Enrique Tarrio the groups national chair at the time Seattle-based Proud Boy Ethan Nordean, and Philadelphia Proud Boy leader Zachary Rehl are now facing seditious conspiracy charges for their central roles in organizing hundreds of Proud Boys to descend on Washington for Jan. 6, and lead them in a march to the Capitol. A fifth defendant, New Yorks Dominic Pezzola, ignited the breach of the Capitol itself when he shattered a Senate-wing window with a stolen police riot shield.

Prosecutors say the group played a crucial role in driving waves of the pro-Trump mob toward the Capitol and then egging it on to surge past barricades and across police lines before entering the Capitol. Prosecutors intend to describe to jurors how several cells of Proud Boys, who marched with the group to the Capitol, dispersed around the Capitol and were prominent in multiple breaches that day.

On Thursday, the 17th day of the trial, prosecutors gave their clearest explanation to jurors about the groups effort to tether itself to Trumps bid to remain in power, to weed out unruly members and to develop a tactical strategy for Jan. 6. They also presented the most significant evidence yet of Tarrios embrace of a plan intended to provide a roadmap for occupying buildings in Washington on Jan. 6.

They also showed separate exchanges Tarrio had with three girlfriends about his impending trip to Washington, D.C. One of them, identified only as Eryka, described a desire to overthrow the government.

The revolution and storming the winter capital is at stake. The revolution is [more] important than anything, Eryka wrote on Dec. 30.

"[T]hats what every waking moment consists of, Tarrio replied.

Eryka then referenced that she had sent Tarrio a document titled 1776 Returns that detailed a plan to occupy federal buildings and force officials to declare a new presidential election. If you dont like my plan, let me know. I will pitch elsewhere. But I want you to be the executor and benefactor of my brilliance, she wrote, asking him not to play games with her.

Im not playing games, Tarrio responded.

Notably, the Jan. 6 select committee last year received testimony from a witness who identified Eryka as a figure in Floridas cryptocurrency community who was a mutual acquaintance of him and Tarrio. The witness, Samuel Armes, described developing some of the ideas at the heart of the 1776 Returns document months before the election as a thought exercise for potential civil unrest. Armes said Eryka appeared to have provided an altered version of that document that had been changed to refer to the 2020 election and included operational proposals.

In a Jan. 3 conversation between Tarrio and a paramour identified only as mamafe, Tarrio described the gear he was planning to take with him to Washington a kit that included a plate carrier, Baofeng radio, goggles, and other items. The woman joked with Tarrio about how her child, if hes anything like you, Im in so much trouble.

Hes gonna be like mom, Im gonna go take the Capitol and Im gonna be like, where, wheres that? Why? she said.

Tarrio replied, The Winter Palace.

Defense attorneys have long criticized the governments reliance on the 1776 Returns document to prove the alleged seditious conspiracy, noting that it doesnt call for violence rather it recommends sit-ins it doesnt explicitly mention the Capitol as a target and theres no evidence Tarrio shared it with anyone else charged in the conspiracy.

Much of Thursdays testimony focused on the groups rising alarm after Trumps defeat in the Nov. 7, 2020 presidential election.

wtf happened? They called it. Now we have to mobilize, wrote North Carolina Proud Boys leader Jeremy Bertino in a message to Tarrio on Nov. 7.

Bertino told Tarrio about a plan to have a Proud Boys presence in Raleigh the next day, and Tarrio recommended that supporters not wear the groups typical black and yellow attire: The campaign asked us to not wear colors to these events, Tarrio said, without elaborating on who he had spoken to. Keep identifying colors to a minimum.

The group would go on to have a significant presence at a November pro-Trump march in Washington D.C. and a subsequent one on Dec. 12 that turned violent. Several Proud Boys were stabbed in street clashes with counterprotesters. Bertino suffered a severe wound that landed him in the hospital.

In the days that immediately followed, the groups leaders exchanged dozens of messages lamenting the chaos and disorganization that led to group members getting hurt. Tarrio griped that the group included too many members who refused to follow orders.

This was a learning experience on how to march 1000 guys down a street, he said in a Dec. 17 chat with Proud Boys chapter presidents. I posted rules that if they would have been followed we wouldnt even be talking about it.

The internal grousing became even more urgent just two days later, when at 1:42 a.m. Trump issued a call to his supporters to make a stand in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, the day Congress was set to certify Bidens victory. Be there, will be wild, Trump tweeted.

Within 20 minutes, Tarrio and Biggs began texting about some perceptions of the group as a drinking club known for street skirmishes with left-wing protesters. Tarrio said he didnt believe the group still fit that drinking club image anymore even though the perception had lingered.

The drinking stuff helps mask and recruit, Tarrio said, Although some chapters dont leave the their [sic] bars at home.

Lets get radical and get real men, Biggs replied. And I dont mean that in a crazy wayWe need to portray a more masculine vibe.

Later the same day, after a brief text exchange, Tarrio convened a 15-minute FaceTime call with Nordean and Biggs.

Trumps calling the troops in on the 6th, Biggs said to the group a few hours later.

Amid their talks, Tarrio created a new encrypted chat channel to prepare the groups Jan. 6 plans, calling it the Ministry of Self-Defense. That channel has become a focal point of the governments investigation.

Prosecutors particularly focused on the groups use of the channel to discuss tactics for Jan. 6. Members of the group discussed a strategy to break into small teams to avoid being choked off by police blockades. They also discussed avoiding wearing the groups traditional black-and-yellow attire and a potential plan to wear all-black a tactic known as black bloc to mimic far-left protestors who have frequently clashed with Proud Boys.

The decision not to wear Proud Boys colors was an extensive subject of the groups conversation in the days before Jan. 6. Tarrio repeatedly urged different sets of Proud Boys leaders to refuse to bring any identifying gear. When some in the group pushed back, worried that the decision could result in Proud Boys getting blamed for the destruction of others, Tarrio dismissed the concern.

Misinformation is a good tool, Tarrio said in one chat with Proud Boys about the groups plan not to wear identifying black-and-yellow attire on Jan. 6. Then, after a pause, he said, Fuck Did I just goebbels this thing?

Members of the group also discussed what gear to bring to D.C. for Jan. 6, including body armor, Baofeng radios, backup phone batteries, pepper spray, stab proof vests, knuckles, goggles and Sudecon wipes, which are used to decontaminate OC spray.

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Proud Boys sedition trial shows group keying off Trump comments