AURN News with Ebony McMorris

Proud Boys Leaders Found Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy

Ebony McMorris
May 4, 2023

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In a landmark decision, four leaders of the far-right group Proud Boys have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy in Washington DC. The group aimed to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power from former President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

Among the convictions are the group’s longtime chairman Enrique Tarrio and members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl. This marks the third time prosecutors have secured convictions for seditious conspiracy in the historic prosecution of those involved in the January 6 capitol breach.

A protester carries a banner of a far-right group, Proud Boys, that has brawled with Black Lives Matter protesters while other members start to unfurl a large U.S. flag in front of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. The protester at center is holding a paintball gun. Hundreds of people gathered on Labor Day in a small town south of Portland for a pro-President Donald Trump vehicle rally, just over a week after member of a far-right group was fatally shot after a Trump caravan went through Oregon’s largest city. Later, pro-Trump supporters and counter-protesters clashed at Oregon’s Capitol. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

The jury did not reach a verdict on some charges leading to a mistrial on those counts. Tarrio’s conviction is especially significant as he was not present in Washington on January 6 but is believed to have created a command structure within the Proud Boys leading up to the event.

How the federal jury decided in the trial of five members of the Proud Boys far-right extremist group, charged with plotting an attack on the U.S. Capitol to keep President Donald Trump in power after his 2020 election loss. (AP Graphic)

Defense attorneys argue that their clients never intended to storm the capitol and that their messages and videos were merely crude rhetoric.

Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.