Proud Boys saw U.S. Capitol Riot as 'next American Revolution'
-testimony
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[February 23, 2023]
By Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch
(Reuters) - A former member of the far-right Proud Boys told a jury on
Wednesday that the group was “desperate” to stop former President Donald
Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election and viewed the Jan. 6, 2021 attack
on the U.S. Capitol as the start of the “next American Revolution.”
Jeremy Bertino, 43, testified at the trial of former Proud Boys leader
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and four other members of the organization that
in the days leading up to the riot at the Capitol, the group
increasingly believed they would have to take action to stop Trump’s
defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.
“My belief was that we had to take the reins and pretty much be the
leaders that we had been building ourselves up to be,” Bertino said.
He was not present at the Capitol the day of the riot after he was
injured in a stabbing in Washington, D.C., in December 2020.
Bertino, of Belmont, North Carolina, pleaded guilty last fall to
seditious conspiracy charges. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to
cooperate with the government.
The jury on Wednesday was shown messages in which Bertino encouraged
Proud Boys at the Capitol to keep pressing and “form a sphere” to
advance further on the grounds.
In private messages with Tarrio, Bertino expressed elation at the riot,
which forced lawmakers to flee and temporarily halted the certification
of the election results in the U.S. Congress.
“You know we made this happen,” Bertino wrote in one message to Tarrio.
“I know,” Tarrio replied.
Bertino said that after authorities regained control of the Capitol and
Congress reconvened, his view of the riot changed. He began to see it as
a "failure" and a "complete waste of time."
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Proud Boys members Enrique Tarrio, left,
and Joe Biggs march during a December 12, 2020 protest in
Washington, D.C. Tarrio was later arrested for acts committed at the
protest and Biggs was later arrested for his involvement in the
storming of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington. D.C., U.S.
Picture taken December 12, 2020. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
Tarrio and four other Proud Boys members - Dominic Pezzola, Ethan
Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl - have been on trial on
seditious conspiracy charges for what prosecutors allege was their
plan to use violence to stop the transfer of presidential power.
Defense lawyers have argued that there was no plan to storm the
Capitol and that prosecutors have taken private messages out of
context to suggest that there was a broad conspiracy.
Bertino testified that after the December stabbing, which he said
left him with broken ribs and a punctured lung, he and other Proud
Boys grew disillusioned and began to question their support of law
enforcement.
“At this point, things had changed and we weren’t on their side
anymore,” Bertino said.
The Proud Boys case marks the third seditious conspiracy trial to
arise from the Capitol riot.
In two previous trials, several members of the far-right Oath
Keepers, including founder Stewart Rhodes, were convicted of
seditious conspiracy.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington;
Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Berkrot)
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