The jury reached a verdict for four far-right extremist Proud Boys group members on Thursday. All four were found guilty of seditious conspiracy concerning the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
This isn't good news for Donald Trump, either.
“It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation,” attorney Nayib Hassan told jurors in his closing arguments. “It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J Trump and those in power.”
CBS News reports:
Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Dominic Pezzola and Zachary Rehl each faced nine counts. All but Pezzola were found guilty on the rare charge of seditious conspiracy under a Civil War-era statute. Tarrio, Biggs, Nordean and Rehl were also found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
The jury reached only a partial verdict and remains split on whether Pezzola is guilty of the seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct charges. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly has instructed jurors to continue deliberating.
Pezzola — who was caught on video smashing in a window with a Capitol Police shield during the breach, and who admitted to his behavior on the stand — was separately charged with stealing the police shield and found guilty Thursday.
Pezzola was also found guilty of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, while the other four defendants were acquitted on that charge.
Jeremy Bertino, another Proud Boys member who separately pleaded guilty to a charge of seditious conspiracy last year, agreed to testify in the trial against other members as part of a plea deal.
He told jurors that the group believed it “had to do anything that was necessary to save the country.”
Bye-bye, guys. I can't say it's been nice.
