Four Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy over US Capitol riot

Washington [US], May 5 (ANI): Four members of the far-right Proud Boys, including former leader Enrique Tarrio, have been convicted for plotting a conspiracy for playing a role in the January 6 US Capitol riot, according to the New York Times.

This verdict came after seven days of deliberations in the Federal District Court in Washington, was a major blow against one of the country’s most notorious far-right groups and another milestone in the Justice Department’s vast investigation of the Capitol attack.

The trial was the last of three sedition cases that federal prosecutors brought against key figures in the Capitol attack, reported New York Times.

As per the New York Times, the men could face a maximum of nearly 50 years in prison on the conspiracy counts alone. And they were also found guilty of other felonies.

The Proud Boys — who had been fighting on the streets since 2017 for a range of far-right causes — became a central focus of the FBI’s investigation into January 6 within days of the attack.

The Proud Boys is an exclusively male North American far-right neo-fascist organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the United States.

The defendants were taken into custody in a series of arrests beginning in January 2021. More than 20 other members of the group from chapters ranging from New York to Hawaii were ultimately charged in separate cases in connection with the Capitol attack, New York Times reported.

On January 6, 2021, thousands of individuals — mostly Trump’s supporters — stormed the Capitol in Washington DC and disrupted a joint session of Congress to affirm the 2020 presidential election results.

This incident is considered one of the worst attacks on the US Congress in more than 200 years and led to Trump’s second impeachment by the House of Representatives shortly before his term officially ended.

Earlier, in January, four members of the Oath Keepers far-right group were also convicted of seditious conspiracy over the January 2021 Capitol riot by a jury in the United States, Al Jazeera reported.

The four members belonging to Oath Keepers were convicted as the authorities continue to bring action against individuals accused of plotting to keep former President Donald Trump in power.