WASHINGTON – Recently, a federal judge made a significant ruling regarding the Proud Boys, a far-right group. The judge dismissed the remaining parts of a major case against several Proud Boys members who were previously convicted of seditious conspiracy. This ruling comes after their planning to attack the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to keep Donald Trump in the White House.
The dismissal of this case was expected. Last year, Trump used his presidential pardon powers to wipe out all the legal actions taken against individuals involved in the Capitol riot. The judge overseeing the Proud Boys trial found no reason to maintain the convictions after Trump’s broad act of clemency.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who Trump appointed to the bench, commented on the situation. He noted that it was clear why the Trump administration decided to drop this case, as well as others related to the January 6 incident. “President Trump’s views about the prosecution of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6 — whether those views are based on fact or fiction — are well known,” Judge Kelly stated.
While dismissing the case, Judge Kelly made it clear that his decision should not be seen as support for the Justice Department’s choice to abandon the case. He referred to the Capitol riot as a dangerous event that threatened the fundamental democratic principle of a peaceful transition of power between presidents.
“If this Nation’s experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people — no matter their partisan preferences — will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework,” he emphasized.
In separate trials, juries in Washington, D.C., found leaders of the Proud Boys and another extremist group, the Oath Keepers, guilty of plotting violent actions to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
As of now, a different judge has yet to decide on the Justice Department’s request to also dismiss the Oath Keepers’ seditious conspiracy convictions.
The recent ruling specifically affected four of the five Proud Boys members who were convicted after a jury trial: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. While Trump commuted their prison sentences, they were not included in the mass pardons he issued.
Enrique Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys, was also convicted in the same trial but received a pardon from Trump. Judge Kelly had sentenced Tarrio to 22 years in prison, which is the longest sentence given in any Capitol riot case.
