By SHIRLEEN GUERA | THE CENTER SQUARE
Former leaders of the Proud Boys organization, Joseph R. Biggs and Zachary Rhel, were sentenced for seditious conspiracy and other charges concerning the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Biggs and Rhel disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was actively counting electoral votes for the 2020 election.
Joseph R. Biggs, 39, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 17 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release.
Zachary Rehl, 38, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release.
According to court documents, a jury convicted Biggs and Rehl as well as three other co-defendants on multiple felonies, including seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding on May 4, 2023, for actions regarding the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Evidence presented during the trial shows that the Proud Boys organization played a prominent, often violent role in Washington, D.C., rallies in November and December of 2020.
Biggs and Rehl served in the chapter “Ministry of Self-Defense” of the Proud Boys.
After Dec. 19, 2020, Biggs and Rehl both conspired to prevent, hinder, and delay the Electoral College vote and to oppose the authority of the government of the United States.
Days before Jan. 6, Biggs, Rehl, and other co-defendants Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and Ethan Nordean hand-selected co-defendant Dominic Pezzola and others known as “rally boys.”
The “rally boys” decided on a chain of command and chose the time and place to gather while recruiting others who would also engage in physical violence.
At 10 a.m. on Jan. 6, the Proud Boys and their recruits of nearly 200 began their walk to the U.S. Capitol. At 12:50 p.m., the group started the chant a short time later, led by Biggs, “Whose Capitol? Our Capitol!” and “Whose house? Our house?”
After breaching several barricades and fences, Biggs stated, “We’ve gone through every barricade thus far.”
The group, still led by Biggs, would push forward when Law enforcement attempted to control the crowd.
While at the steps of the Capitol, Rhel sprayed an officer in the face while Pezzola smashed a window, allowing others to enter the Capitol, followed by Biggs at 2:11 p.m.
Many group members recorded and took photos on the west lawn of the Capitol, stating, “Jan. 6 will be a day in infamy.”
Rhel also made social media posts naming Jan.6 a “historical day” while telling his mother that he was “so fucking proud” of the Proud Boys’ “raid of the capitol.”
Biggs also recorded an interview, calling the Jan. 6 breach a “warning shot” that showed the government “how weak they truly are” from being “bitch-slapped… on their own home turf.” he went on to say that “Jan. 7 was warning shot to the government -look, we started this country this way, and we’ll fuckin’ save it this way.”
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly added the federal crime of terrorism to the defendant’s sentence.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the crimes alongside the District of Columbia, the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, and the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case, and the charges are a direct result of the cooperation across several FBI Field offices and law enforcement agencies.
As of Friday, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested across the U.S. related to the breach Jan. 6 Capitol breach, resulting in more than 350 of those charges for assaulting or impending law enforcement.
Hope it was worth it to those idiots. Spoiled children who can’t handle loss and claim fraud and then get so upset they decide to riot.
Talking about democrats in 2016 again?? and since…
Political Prisoners, while Ray Epps is on camera committing seditious conspiracy.
The outstanding question is whether, and how many, FBI agents, operatives and informants may have been involved in this and if they tried to entrap or enable the conduct. I do not approve of the conduct of the defendants but the FBI appears to be out of control.
The weaponization of the (so-called) “justice” system against opponents of the ruling class and the power establishment is proceeding nicely.
Waaaahhhh waaaaaahhh waaaaaaahhh
Says the radical leftist extremist who is perfectly willing to completely suborn, pervert and corrupt the justice system and the law, as long as doing so favors his narrow and blind (perceived) partisan advantage.
As usual, every cheat, every lie, every perversion of the truth and the law, in the pursuit of raw, naked power is fair game for a radical leftist extremist.
I bet my buddy $500 I could be called a radical leftist extremist within a day by you Jefferson, lmao I just collected. So simple you “Listless Vessels” are.
Well, if the neo-Marxist totalitarian shoe fits …
You ARE a radical leftist extremist, RINO. To not refer to you as such would simply be dishonest and denying reality.
Sounds like your buddy is a real loser… and you are a real “winner”
Simple losers and simply “winning”
Hunter won too….
Quick!
Get Rino a blanket, a teddy bear and safe space! Oh and don’t forget the hot chocolate!
He is clearly crying out for comfort because he can not handle the truth!
Did you learn a new word?
How cute.
These boys definitely went overboard with what was supposed to be a peaceful protest. But 17 years without a murder involved? Spanking them boys a bit too hard, in my opinion. Borders on political persecution. But that’s the flavor of the day.
Agreed. Compare the sentences of the blm & antifa rioters… No the commies didn’t attack the Capitol, but just sayin’. Seriously out of proportion.
But they did attack the WH in 2020, which is apparently ok as Trump was in it at the time. Cheers –
Hopefully for their sake somebody with some common sense will take charge and realize the unbalanced and excessive punishment and they will be set free with a time served and a presidential pardon.
Joe Biden/Merrik Garland duo obviously had their thumb on Lady justices scale.
Yes, it makes me wonder how much time we are going to get for our comments.
I guess these boys f**ked around and found out. Explains why they are not the Proud Men!
What have you ever stood for?
The punishment is wildly over the top. Meant to send a message to the rest of us to mind out place.
This is indeed the end of the republic and the beginning of mob rule.
Just wait until the pendulum swings the other way!
Trespassing, at best. What has been done to them, to Trump and his advisors will go into the long list of shameful acts committed by the US federal government both domestically and abroad.
To all you self-righteous, sanctimonious DNC cultists; what goes around, comes around. If you are capable of independent thought, you might consider the fact that what has been successfully done to others will eventually be done to you.
But what happened after Ttump was elected – in the same city and location – didn’t even cause a blip on the news or, recourse by the DOJ and/or FBI. It was mass rioting and mayhem, similar to the Antifa and BLM riots that were labeled “mostly peaceful protests.” Two-tiered justice system without a doubt.
The only seditious conspiracy is what is going on in the DC courts with the prosecutions and sentences. Cheers –
Will Biden and the Democrats that have allowed the invasion of the USA, resulting in the killing of thousands of US citizens from drugs and murder , be tried in court next??
This was an orchestrated event from beginning to end by Nancy Pelosi, et al, and anyone that doesn’t believe that has not read all the actions taken by her and the bureaucrats running DC in the days leading up to January 6th. From her turning down the National Guard presence requested by the house Sergeant at Arms, to the escorting of people into the capital by the capital police, this was a planned event. All the attempts to scrub the events of that day cannot hide it all from the public.
Pick and choose your poison! These boys didn’t deserve this! But they k ew going in! That they could be chosen!
Not right! Our wonderful federal government! Pick and choose!your state and federal don’t have the people’s back!
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