Among the more than 940 federal criminal prosecutions arising from the Jan. 6 insurrection to date, the seditious conspiracy trial of five top members of the Proud Boys organization could well be the most important and informative of all. Accordingly, I am chronicling this historic trial, minute-by-minute, via this live-blog.
In a ten-count indictment, the government alleges that five Proud Boy defendants—then-chairman Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola—conspired to oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force. In a novel legal theory, prosecutors argue that these five defendants manipulated and enlisted other rioters—including both Proud Boys and non-Proud Boys—to act, in effect, as their “tools” to effectuate the conspiracy’s goal. In this manner, the defendants allegedly played crucial roles in toppling key barricades, penetrating key police lines, and breaching key Capitol building windows and doors, making the assault on the U.S. Capitol a reality.
The live-blog will run each day that the trial is in session with the most recent day at the top.