After months of trial, a jury in Washington, DC has convicted so-called Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three of his associates of seditious conspiracy in the January 6 Trumpist insurrection at the Capitol. The seditious conspiracy charge against the right-wing street thug army of the Malignant Loser was considered to be the most complicated to prove, especially in Tarrio's case as he wasn't on the Capitol grounds that day. From the Washington Post:
"Former Proud Boys chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and three other members of the extremist group were found guilty Thursday of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Over nearly 15 weeks of trial, prosecutors alleged that the Proud Boys on trial saw themselves as Donald Trump’s “army.” Inspired by his directive to “stand by” during a September 2020 presidential debate and mobilized by his December 2020 call for a “wild” protest when Congress met to certify the election, prosecutors said the men sought to keep Trump in power through violence.
Defense attorneys for Tarrio fought back by blaming the former president, saying prosecutors made the five defendants scapegoats for an unplanned riot triggered by Trump’s incitement of angry supporters.
The jury, which began hearing testimony in January, deliberated about 30 hours over seven days in Washington.
Tarrio, 29, and the others were charged in a 10-count indictment. The charges included conspiring to oppose by force the lawful transition of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election, conspiring to obstruct Congress’s confirmation of the election result, and actually obstructing the joint session of Congress. The legal maximum penalty for either seditious conspiracy or the obstruction charges is 20 years in prison. (our emphasis)
This is a breaking story and may be updated.
(photo: Gusano Cubano Tarrio in Proud Boys costume. Allison Dinner / AP)
