Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
- Proud Boys former leader, Enrique Tarrio, and 3 others were found guilty of seditious conspiracy on Thursday.
- Seditious conspiracy is when people conspire to overthrow, put down, or destroy the government.
- The charge carries with it a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine.
The former leader of the Proud Boys far-right extremist group, Enrique Tarrio, was found guilty of seditious conspiracy on Thursday along with 3 other members.
Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, and Zachary Rehl were all found guilty of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, NBC News reported. On January 6, 2021, they had attempted to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden, in one of the most consequential trials to follow the insurrection.
The jury is still split about seditious conspiracy and obstruction charges against a fifth Proud Boys member, Dominic Pezzola, according to NBC News. But, Pezzola was found guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers for his role in stealing a police shield and using it to smash a window.
Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes and member Kelly Meggs were also found guilty of seditious conspiracy back in November 2022, in another major trial connected to the attack on the US Capitol.
Seditious conspiracy, sometimes referred to as "sedition," is a law that first originated in 1789 to prosecute speech critical of the government. It has since been rewritten, with the current law stating:
"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."
Michael McDaniel, Director of Homeland Law at Cooley Law School, told Insider the case against the Proud Boys would likely carry with it the maximum sentence of 20 years, based on the magnitude of the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
"To me, this was a textbook case," McDaniel said. "It was the fact that they were smashing windows, pouring into the Capitol, at exactly the time that the Senate is counting, under the election Control Act, they're counting the ballots of the electors from each state. That's what made this so egregious to me and made it seem seditious to me from the beginning."
The last time the United States prosecuted anyone under the seditious conspiracy law was in the case of the Hutaree militia in 2010, when nine members of the so-called "Christian Patriot" movement were arrested for plotting to kill police officers and attack additional officers at their funerals.
In the case of the Hutaree militia, defense lawyers argued the men were play fighting and their criticism of the government was protected under the First Amendment. A judge dropped the sedition charges before the defendants faced a jury, in part due to concerns about protected speech.
"There's been this theme ever since where the question is, were the individuals just criticizing the government?" McDaniels said. "Or were they discussing the conspiracy itself, was it a part of the illegal agreement?"
The prosecutors faced an uphill battle convicting the Proud Boys members because, according to McDaniels, four elements had to be proven in court.
"You have to have an agreement to carry out a criminal act. Secondly, it has to be criminal, it has to be illegal. Third, you have to knowingly participate," McDaniels said. "The prosecutor has to prove that the individuals who have been indicted now knew that this was an activity on behalf of everybody involved. And then there has to be some overt act, you have to be advancing the goal of the conspiracy."
"Right from the beginning, I thought, 'Okay, this is sedition,' and there's no question in my mind from the beginning," McDaniels added. "But, the hesitation is: that's kind of tough to prove."
But, the prosecutors succeeded, and the four convicted Proud Boys members could face up to 20 years in prison.