Joshua Pruitt, 40, a former Washington, D.C. resident, attended
a rally with the Proud Boys on the day of the attack, before he
breached the Capitol grounds while wearing a tactical glove with
knuckle pads.
Prosecutors said he advanced up the steps, leapt over a railing
and entered on the U.S. Senate side of the building where he
eventually made his way in the direction of the subway used by
members of Congress and their staff to travel within the Capitol
for voting.
At the time, a security detail for then-U.S. Senate Minority
Leader Charles Schumer was whisking him to safety when they saw
Pruitt approaching in their direction, and they were all forced
to retreat.
Pruitt, who pleaded guilty in June to a charge of obstructing an
official proceeding, is not part of the larger seditious
conspiracy prosecution pending against six leaders of the Proud
Boys, including its former Chairman Enrique Tarrio.
Tarrio and his co-defendants are due to go to trial in December.
It will be the second trial involving seditious conspiracy
charges.
In September, a group of defendants who belong to or align
themselves with the far-right Oath Keepers militia, including
founder Stewart Rhodes, will also go to trial for seditious
conspiracy charges.
Since the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by throngs of
former President Donald Trump's supporters, more than 850 people
have been charged for their role in the attack.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Richard Chang)
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