This Friday, September 1, Ethan Nordean, former leader of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, received an 18-year prison sentence for his role in the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol in Washington. Joe Biggs and Zachary Rehl, two other leaders of the group, were sentenced Thursday to 17 and 15 years in prison, respectively.
First modification:
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“Without a doubt he is the leader on the ground on January 6,” said prosecutor McCullough, before a federal district judge sentenced Ethan Nordean to the longest sentence yet for one of the Proud Boys’ members in around this case.
About Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right group, ‘Oath Keepers’, also received the sentence of 18 years in prison; however, the Rhodes case was heard separately on May 25 of this year. He was charged with seditious conspiracy, a Civil War-era crime that has rarely been repeated.
Judge Timothy Kelly, the Trump appointee who handed down the sentence, said Nordean was guilty of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Trump to Biden after the 2020 presidential election.
Two additional members of the Proud Boys have been handed sentences for their involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Ethan Nordean received an 18-year sentence, while Dominic Pezzola, who initiated the breach by breaking a window, was sentenced to 10 years. Estos… pic.twitter.com/71UyTtNVsO
—Spectral News (@spectral_news) September 2, 2023
Previously, Kelly had sentenced Dominic Pezzola, another member of the Prod Boys, to 10 years in prison, who broke a Capitol window and slipped into the compound. With pride and defiance, Pezzola raised his fist and yelled “Trump won!” as he walked out of the courtroom after being sentenced.
A different attitude took Nordean. The 33-year-old man, who told the judge that his view of January 6 has changed and that he now considers the event to be “a complete and utter tragedy,” explained that he regrets not using his leadership role to try to stop the attacks. events.
There is no demonstration or political protest that should have value over human life. To anyone I have harmed directly or even indirectly, I’m sorry, Nordean said.
Reconstruction of the facts
In court, the prosecutors in the case argued that on January 6, 2021, Nordean encouraged an increase in the spirits on social networks, around the alleged rumor of electoral fraud.
According to the prosecution, that day Nordean led a group of almost 200 people to the Capitol, then stood in front of the crowd and helped to break down a fence, giving the rest of the people behind him a clear path to enter. on state land and confronted the police.
With this argument, the prosecutors asked for a sentence of 27 years in prison, but the defense attorneys argued that their client had “no plans to storm the Capitol that day.” In addition, they denied claims that Nordean tore down the fence and asked for less than two years in prison.
For Pezzola, the other leader, the judge concluded that he was a newcomer to the group and that he was not related to the violent messages that were posted online prior to the assault. However, he concluded that he was a “spearhead” in the whole process and helped to get the rioters into the compound.
Pezzola, 46, testified at trial that he originally grabbed the officer’s shield to protect himself from police riot control measures, and his lawyers explained that he only broke one pane of glass and that “it was other rioters who broke the rest of it.” window”.
The court judge denied this version: “The reality is that you broke that window and let people start entering the Capitol building and threatening the lives of our legislators. It is not something I ever dreamed I would have seen in our country.” .
Pezzola’s lawyers argued that their client was caught up in the riot on January 6 and asked for five years in prison; the judge, instead, sentenced him to 10 years.
Other members of the Proud Boys sentenced
In all, four members of the Proud Boys have been sentenced after a months-long trial that ended in May.
Josep Biggs and Zachary Rehl were the other two members who heard the judge’s decision last Thursday, August 31.
USA: Proud Boys group leader sentenced to 17 years in prison for assault on Capitol
![](https://s.france24.com/media/display/05f72202-48ce-11ee-8965-005056a90321/w:980/p:16x9/ES_20230901_020328_020507_CS.jpg)
Biggs received 17 years in prison, marking the second longest sentence so far in this case; and Rehl received 15 years.
However, the main leader of the group, Enrique Tarrio, has not yet received a sentence. It is scheduled for next Tuesday, September 5, after the end of a trial that lasted more than a month.
In connection with the storming of the United States Capitol, more than 1,100 people have been charged with federal crimes, of which 600 have been convicted and sentenced, including members of the Oath Keepers.
With AP, Reuters and local media.
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