1 year ago
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The seditious conspiracy trial of Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and four members of the extremist group at the center of an alleged violent plot to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election is underway. Opening statements have not yet begun, however. Instead, jury selection has moved at a glacial pace at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.
Just weeks ago Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the leader of a separate but similar group known as the Oath Keepers, and one of that network’s division leaders, Kelly Meggs, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in the very same courthouse.
Selection in that case was rigorous too. Much to the Oath Keepers defendants’ opposition, a jury was eventually cobbled together before a 29-day-long trial unfolded and culminated in a mixed bag of verdicts for Rhodes and his cohorts.
The Proud Boys now on trial find themselves in a similar predicament, though their charges are more numerous. Proud Boys defendants Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola face nine charges apiece including seditious conspiracy; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging their duties; obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder; destruction of government property; and aiding and abetting, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers. Pezzola faces a charge unique to him alone: robbery of personal property of the United States.
