WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group were convicted Thursday of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A jury in Washington, D.C., found Tarrio and three lieutenants guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases brought in the stunning attack that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, as the world watched on live TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jurors cleared a fifth defendant \u2014 Dominic Pezzola \u2014 of the sedition charge, though he was convicted of other serious felonies. The judge excused the jury without delivering a verdict on some counts \u2014 including another conspiracy charge for Pezzola \u2014 after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a significant milestone for the Justice Department, which has now secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the leaders of two major extremist groups prosecutors say were intent on keeping Democratic President Joe Biden out of the White House at all costs. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Justice Department will never stop working to defend the democracy to which all Americans are entitled,\u201d Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters after the verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tarrio, behind bars since his March 2022 arrest, didn\u2019t appear to show any emotion as the verdict was read. He hugged one of his lawyers and shook the hand of the other before leaving the courtroom. A few of the people sitting among the defendants\u2019 relatives wiped away tears as the verdict was read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The verdict comes after a trial that took more than twice as long as originally expected, slowed by bickering, mistrial motions and revelations of government informants in the group. Securing the conviction of Tarrio, a high-profile leader who wasn\u2019t at the riot itself, could embolden the Justice Department as a special counsel investigates Trump, including key aspects of the Jan. 6 insurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Special Counsel Jack Smith in recent weeks has sought the testimony of many people close to Trump. They include former Vice President Mike Pence, who testified before a grand jury last week, likely giving prosecutors a key first-person account about certain conversations and events in the weeks preceding the riot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tarrio was a top target of what has become the largest Justice Department investigation in American history. He led the neo-fascist group \u2014 known for street fights with left-wing activists \u2014 when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to \u201cstand back and stand by\u201d during his first debate with Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tarrio wasn\u2019t in Washington on Jan. 6, because he had been arrested two days earlier in a separate case and ordered out of the capital city. But prosecutors said he organized and directed the attack by Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to Tarrio, a Miami resident, three other Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tarrio, Nordean, Biggs and Rehl were also convicted of obstructing Congress\u2019 certification of Biden\u2019s electoral victory and obstructing law enforcement as well as two other conspiracy charges. The four were cleared of an assault charge stemming from Pezzola, who stole an officer\u2019s riot shield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judge told jurors to keep deliberating on a few remaining counts where they haven\u2019t reached agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rehl\u2019s attorney, Carmen Hernandez, said her client \u201ccontinues to maintain his innocence.\u201d Lawyers for Biggs and Pezzola declined to comment. An attorney for Tarrio declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors told jurors the group viewed itself as \u201cTrump\u2019s army\u201d and was prepared for \u201call-out war\u201d to stop Biden from becoming president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Proud Boys were \u201clined up behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf,\u201d prosecutor Conor Mulroe said in his closing argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The backbone of the government\u2019s case was hundreds of messages exchanged by Proud Boys in the days leading up to Jan. 6 that show the far-right extremist group peddling Trump\u2019s false claims of a stolen election and trading fears over what would happen when Biden took office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Proud Boys swarmed the Capitol, Tarrio cheered them on from afar, writing on social media: \u201cDo what must be done.\u201d In a Proud Boys encrypted group chat later that day someone asked what they should do next. Tarrio responded: \u201cDo it again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMake no mistake,\u201d Tarrio wrote in another message. \u201cWe did this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defense lawyers denied there was any plot to attack the Capitol or stop Congress\u2019 certification of Biden\u2019s win. A lawyer for Tarrio sought to push the blame onto Trump, arguing the former president incited the pro-Trump mob\u2019s attack when he urged the crowd near the White House to \u201cfight like hell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was Donald Trump\u2019s words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your beautiful and amazing city,\u201d attorney Nayib Hassan said in his final appeal to jurors. \u201cIt was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Justice Department hadn\u2019t tried a seditious conspiracy case in a decade before a jury convicted another extremist group leader, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, of the Civil War-era charge last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of two Oath Keepers trials, Rhodes and five other members were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a separate plot to forcibly halt the transfer of presidential power from Trump to Biden. Three defendants were acquitted of the sedition charge, but convicted of obstructing Congress\u2019 certification of Biden\u2019s electoral victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Justice Department has yet to disclose how much prison time it will seek when the Oath Keepers are sentenced later this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story has been correct to reflect that the Oath Keepers sentencings are scheduled for later this month, not next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n