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In the indictment against Enrique Tarrio, prosecutors say the group used war to describe their actions and intent leading up to Jan. 6. File Photo by Gamal Diab/EPA-EFE
Jan. 12 (UPI) — On the opening day of a highly watched sedition trial, federal prosecutors argued that the militant far-right group Proud Boys executed a calculated attack on Jan. 6, 2021, with the intention of stopping the transfer of presidential power.
Five prominent members of the Proud Boys are being tried in the court proceedings that began Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough said the group began conspiring in the days following the 2020 election, planning for a war if then-President Donald Trump was not elected to another term in office. The opening statements by the prosecution lasted about 80 minutes, according to NBC News.
The defendants, former leader Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola face charges of conspiracy to stop the lawful transfer of power by force, assaulting and impeding law enforcement officers, obstructing a governmental proceeding, destroying government property, and hindering or delaying by force the execution of governing the transfer of power.
In the indictment against Tarrio and his fellow Proud Boys members, references to war were cited in numerous messages from Tarrio and his co-defendants.
McCullough recalled the September 2020 presidential debate when Trump addressed the Proud Boys, telling them to “stand back and stand by.” He said this was a call to action that the group acted upon.
“They did not stand back, they did not stand by, instead they mobilized,” he said.
“These ‘lords of war’ joined together to stop the transfer of presidential power.”
The defendants communicated through several channels, including the messaging app Telegram. On Jan. 6, following the breaching of the Capitol Building, Tarrio shared a message to other members that said, “Make no mistake… We did this.”
McCullough said this message is one of many pieces of evidence that shows intent.
“Those are his words, his thoughts, just minutes after Congress had been forced to stop its work,” McCullough said. “They did what they’d set out to do.”
Attorneys for the defense dismissed accusations that the attack on the Capitol were premeditated, going as far as downplaying the attack altogether.
Roger Roots, the attorney for Pezzola, downplayed the sedition trial as being about a “six-hour delay of Congress.”
“The government makes a big deal out of this six-hour recess,” he said.
In November, two members of the far-right group Oath Keepers, founder Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy. The charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
