Proud Boys: I’ll take SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY for today’s superseding indictment
Proud Boys members now facing seditious conspiracy charges. —the superseding indictment adds two charges to the earlier indictment: one count of seditious conspiracy, and one
I think superseding Monday should actually be a thing. Oh Henry: Welcome to superseding indictment…which now includes two additional counts —See DOJ-USAO-DC Press Release, which reads in part:
The superseding indictment adds two charges to the earlier indictment: one count of seditious conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties. All defendants now face a total of nine charges, and Pezzola faces an additional robbery charge. The defendants are scheduled to appear for a hearing on June 9, 2022, in the District of Columbia
And there it is, on page 8… the two words many of us have been (impatiently) waiting for:
Count One - Seditious Conspiracy
Like many of you for months I’ve been wondering when or if prosecutors would finally add Seditious Conspiracy to the main group of Proud Boys (you can read the dozen plus previously published articles here) Defendants Henry “Enrique” Tarrio: the former national chairman of the Proud Boys; Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola —as alleged in the newly unsealed superseding indictment (the acts start on page 9 thru page 23) —statutorily speaking Seditious Conspiracy carries a maximum of twenty years in a federal prison.
If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
If two or more persons in any State, Territory, Possession, or District conspire to prevent, by force, intimidation, or threat, any person from accepting or holding any office, trust, or place of confidence under the United States, or from discharging any duties thereof, or to induce by like means any officer of the United States to leave the place, where his duties as an officer are required to be performed, or to injure him in his person or property on account of his lawful discharge of the duties of his office, or while engaged in the lawful discharge thereof, or to injure his property so as to molest, interrupt, hinder, or impede him in the discharge of his official duties, each of such persons shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six years, or both. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 701 ; Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, §4002(d)(1)(D), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1809 .)
Again and as noted above, the Seditious Conspiracy Count is one of the more serious crimes. As alleged in the superseding indictment —here the prosecutors aggregate the acts in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Through at least Jan. 6, 2021, Tarrio was the national chairman of the organization. In mid-December of 2020, Tarrio created a special chapter of the Proud Boys known as the “Ministry of Self Defense.” As alleged in the indictment, from in or around December 2020, Tarrio and his co-defendants, all of whom were leaders or members of the Ministry of Self Defense, conspired to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote, and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States.
On Jan. 6, 2021, the defendants directed, mobilized, and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol, leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the Capitol building, and assaults on law enforcement. During and after the attack, Tarrio and his co-defendants claimed credit for what had happened on social media and in an encrypted chat room.
The text exchanges with Rehl are definitely something we didn’t have a lot of details on. Here the prosecutors lay out the facts and boy a cursory read of the superseding indictment definitely conveys that prosecutors have widened the scope of their investigation…
The fact that we still don’t know for sure who PERSON-1 is —well that bothers me but on one hand PERSON -1 just might be cooperating with the government but again you can read both the Press Release and Superseding Indictment which are both included in the USAO-DC tweet, embedded below which was published less than an hour ago… again I’d encourage you to read the superseding indictment (specifically pages 8 thru 23) because prosecutors have added a bunch of new facts…and it’s important to know these details
Each of these defendants now face a total of nine charges. Separately Defendant Pezzola faces a charge of robbery charge (when he stole the riot shield). Each of the defendants are scheduled to appear for a hearing on June 9, 2022 —when the new charges will be read to them.
Now if you’ll excuse me. I really do need to deal with my bonbons and fire that just landed in my inbox a few minutes ago. And yes I’m sorry for publishing two articles nearly back to back. I blame it on poor time management skills of handling the firehose of breaking news. (snort) —Perhaps I’m in the minority but if you are willing to engage in a seditious conspiracy to over throw our government then you deserve to spend the rest of your natural life in a federal prison. There’s absolutely nothing patriotic about Trump or the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers. They damn near destroyed our Democracy and the price they should pay is a lifetime sentence in federal prison. Period. Full Stop. Sorry I’m not sorry for that comment.
Ah. Patience rewarded. And, may I say… WOOOOOOOTTTT!
What a delightful read, Mic!
These guys will be included in dark chapter of American history. I say throw the book at every last soulless thug.