Ex-Proud Boys leaders face sentencing for Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol
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[August 30, 2023]
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday will consider whether
to impose the steepest sentence yet on two former leaders of the
right-wing Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes
for the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters.
Prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to sentence
Enrique Tarrio, the group's former chairman, to 33 years in prison and
to sentence his co-defendant Ethan Nordean, another former leader, to 27
years.
Those recommendations exceed the longest sentence handed out so far over
the assault by the former president's supporters on the seat of
government, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes who was
sentenced in May to serve 18 years.
The attack was meant to stop Congress from certifying Democratic
President Joe Biden's election, which Trump falsely claims was the
result of widespread fraud. Trump currently holds a wide lead in the
race for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in 2024.
Prosecutors are asking the judge to agree to a terrorism enhancement for
Tarrio and his co-defendants - a move that has the potential to add
roughly 15 years to a prison term.
"These defendants and the men in their command saw themselves as the
foot soldiers of the right — they were prepared to use, and they did
use, force to stop the 'traitors' from stealing the election,'" federal
prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
More than 1,000 people have been arrested on charges related to the
Capitol assault, and of those at least 570 have pleaded guilty and 78
have been convicted at trial. Five people including a police officer
died during or shortly after the riot and more than 140 police officers
were injured. The Capitol suffered millions of dollars in damage.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was tapped to investigate broader
efforts to overturn the 2020 election, has since charged Trump for
trying to keep himself in power.
Attorneys for Tarrio and Nordean are asking the judge to reject the
terrorism enhancement request.
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Members of the far-right Proud Boys,
including leader Enrique Tarrio (C), rally in support of U.S.
President Donald Trump to protest against the results of the 2020
U.S. presidential election, in Washington, U.S. November 14, 2020.
REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File photo
"While the instant offenses are serious in nature, they are nowhere
near and should not be grouped in the same category ... as the
heinous acts committed by individuals such as Timothy James
McVeigh," Tarrio's attorneys wrote, referring to the man who carried
out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
In May, a jury convicted Tarrio and Nordean along with Joseph Biggs
and Zachary Rehl of seditious conspiracy, a Civil War-era law that
makes it a crime to conspire to oppose the government by force, and
other felonies.
Biggs and Rehl are due to be sentenced on Thursday. Prosecutors are
seeking 33 years for Biggs and 30 years for Rehl.
A fifth defendant - Dominic Pezzola - was acquitted of the seditious
conspiracy charge, but convicted alongside the others of other
felonies including obstructing an official proceeding. Prosecutors
are requesting a 20-year sentence for him.
All of the five defendants except Tarrio entered the Capitol during
the attack. Prosecutors said they were among the first to charge
past protective barricades.
Tarrio was not in Washington that day after being ordered by a judge
to stay out of the city following a Jan. 4 arrest for burning a
Black Lives Matter banner at a church. But prosecutors said he
helped direct the attack from Baltimore.
Capitol Police described at a hearing on Tuesday the toll the attack
took on them.
"I will never forget attempting to aid another officer and being
violently dragged down by my riot shield," wrote former Capitol
Police Officer Mark Ode, in a letter submitted to the court that a
prosecutor read aloud.
Ode, whose riot shield was stolen by Pezzola, said that at one point
during the assault he experienced a "vivid vision" of his own
funeral as he gasped for air.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair
Bell)
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