Proud Boys Sedition Trial

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Jury selection begins in Biggs trial

Volusia Proud Boys chief faces counts over Jan. 6

Frank Fernandez

Daytona Beach News-Journal USA TODAY NETWORK

Jury selection begins today in Washington, D.C., for a Volusia County Proud Boys leader who is among four members of the group being tried in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Joseph Biggs, who is a resident of unincorporated Volusia County near Ormond Beach, was indicted on seditious conspiracy and other charges in the attack. The seditious conspiracy charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison.

Biggs has been held in federal custody while awaiting trial.

The trial begins today with jury selection, and testimony is not expected to begin until Jan. 3.

Biggs' role in the attack was the focus of chilling testimony by U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards during one of the Jan. 6, 2021 hearings. She testified that Biggs aimed the mob's ire at law enforcement, making the officers out to be villains.

She said that initially, Biggs and some other Proud Boys focused on Congress but that changed once some Arizona Proud Boys arrived.

Edwards said it was Biggs who led the rioters facing off against police at a bike rack at the Peace Circle near the northwest corner of the Capitol grounds.

“And once they joined that group, Joseph Biggs' rhetoric turned to the Capitol Police,” Edwards said. “He started asking us questions like, 'You didn't miss a paycheck during the pandemic,' mentioning stuff about, our pay scale was mentioned, and started turning the tables on us. “

Authorities say Biggs and his fellow Proud Boys along with other rioters

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stormed past outnumbered police and invaded the Capitol, forcing a temporary halt to the certifi�cation of 2020's electoral votes by a joint session of Congress.

Besides the seditious conspiracy charge, Biggs was also indicted on conspiracy to prevent an offi�cer from discharging any duties.

Indicted along with Biggs on the charges were Enrique Tarrio of Miami, the group's former national chairman; Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Washington; Zachary Rehl, 36, of Philadelphia and Dominic Pezzola, 44, of Philadelphia.

Biggs, Tarrio, Nordean, Rehl and Pezzola were also charged with conspiracy to obstruct an offi�cial proceeding, obstruction of an offi�cial proceeding and aiding and abetting, civil disorder and aiding and abetting, two counts of destruction of government property and aiding and abetting and two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain offi�cers.

Pezzola was also accused of taking a riot shield from a police offi�cer and using the shield to smash a window, opening an entryway for the fi�rst attackers to enter the Capitol.

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'Stand back and stand by:' Volusia County Proud Boys leader on trial for sedition in D.C.

Joseph Randall Biggs, a Volusia County Proud Boys leader charged with seditious conspiracy and other crimes, is among five members of the far-right extremist Proud Boys currently on trial for offenses committed during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol that sent lawmakers seeking shelter and interrupted the certification of the election of President Joe Biden.

https://local.newsbreak.com/volusia-county-fl/2996783225667-stand-back-and-stand-by-volusia-county-proud-boys-leader-on-trial-for-sedition-in-dc?

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Defense rests at sedition trial for Proud Boys leaders

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense attorneys on Thursday finished presenting their trial testimony for the landmark case against former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio and four other group members charged with conspiring to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

https://apnews.com/article/proud-boys-trial-capitol-riot-pezzola-tarrio-385c396b3264fccff463c65624951463

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Prosecutor: Proud Boys viewed themselves as ‘Trump’s army’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ready for “all-out war,” leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Donald Trump as the former president clung to power after the 2020 election, a prosecutor said Monday at the close of a historic trial over the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

https://apnews.com/article/proud-boys-enrique-tarrio-capitol-riot-trial-4dc5d0d36bc4c39ea924412dbb51780b?

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Proud Boys leaders: Trump caused Jan. 6 attack

Former Proud Boys national chair Enrique Tarrio — the man prosecutors have portrayed as the ringleader of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — told jurors Tuesday that he’s merely a scapegoat for the real culprit: Donald Trump.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/25/proud-boys-trial-trump-tarrio-00093678?

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THE BIG FINISH: The Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial goes to the jury

A jury that has listened to arguments and evidence for roughly four months in the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial that unfolded mere blocks away from the U.S. Capitol, has now entered deliberations. 

https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/04/26/the-big-finish-the-proud-boys-seditious-conspiracy-trial-goes-to-the-jury/?

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Who is Joe Biggs? Fate of seditious conspiracy defendant in hands of the jury

It was 2020, a month or so before the presidential election. "Proud Boy" Joseph Randall Biggs was speaking with a News-Journal reporter and reflecting on how he would react if then-President Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden.

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2023/04/27/what-proud-boy-and-seditious-conspiracy-defendant-joe-biggs-has-said/70153540007/

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The Proud Boys Seditious Conspiracy Conundrum

When rioters toppled the first barricades at the Peace Circle at 12:53 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, that’s what government witness and cooperating Proud Boy Matthew Greene remembered thinking, according to his testimony in the recently concluded Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial. The jury is now deliberating.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/proud-boys-seditious-conspiracy-conundrum?

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Proud Boys’ Tarrio guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group were convicted Thursday of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 presidential election.

https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-enrique-tarrio-seditious-conspiracy-trial-f8738f17552cda21eef6d89504da2a0e?

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Florida Proud Boys Biggs, Tarrio found guilty of seditious conspiracy for Jan. 6 actions

Four Proud Boys, including Joe Biggs of unincorporated Volusia County, were found guilty Thursday by a federal jury of seditious conspiracy for their roles in leading hordes of Donald Trump supporters into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/nation-world/2023/05/04/proud-boy-joe-biggs-3-others-guilty-in-seditious-conspiracy-trial/70183551007/?

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Proud Boys 1/6 verdict boosts Justice Dept. in Trump probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio wasn’t even in Washington when members of his extremist group, angry over Donald Trump ’s election loss, stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Yet federal prosecutors, using his words, won a conviction on the most serious charge levied in the insurrection.

https://apnews.com/article/proud-boys-jan-6-seditious-conspiracy-trump-05fd738dbf2f8aedeafb9579b1dfdd19?