The Cuban-American Enrique Tarrío and his associates in the extremist group Proud Boys, began to be tried this Monday in Washington DC for their participation in the attack on the Capitol during the failed coup on January 6, 2021.
In a last-minute move, defense attorneys tried to postpone jury selection until after the new year because of the presentation, also on Friday, of the report on the attack by the House of Representatives committee that investigated the events.
One of the defense attorneys argued that it was impossible to know what Proud Boys-related evidence the committee might release, and that media coverage could contaminate the jury.
“We don’t want to select the jury in this highly confusing and inflammatory environment,” said attorney Norm Pattis, who represents the Proud Boys.
But federal Judge Timothy Kelly denied the request, saying they would go ahead despite the committee’s work. He assured that he would remind jurors to avoid following media coverage related to January 6. “The former president is not on trial here today,” he said. The House committee has focused its investigations on the conduct of former President Donald Trump.
Cuban-American Tarrío is perhaps the most high-profile defendant to face a jury so far for the attack that held up President Biden’s victory certification for hours. It left six dead, injured dozens of police officers and led to nearly a thousand arrests.
In addition, they are accused of conspiring to attack the Capitol in order to annul the victory of the newly elected president. This trial comes just weeks after two leaders of another extremist group, the Oath Keepers, were found guilty, also of seditious conspiracy.
If the Cuban-American from Miami and his associates are convicted of sedition, they could face up to twenty years in prison. The trial is expected to last at least six weeks.
Tarrío did not physically participate in the January 6 attack because he was arrested at the Washington DC airport two days before the events and charged with destroying a Black Lives Matter banner at a black church during a protest in December 2020. But the Prosecutors say he was the leader of a conspiracy to stop the transfer of power from Trump to Biden, which was at the origin of the events of January 6.
Days before the riots, Tarrío posted a call for “revolution” on social media, according to court documents.
Citing what they alleged was a group of encrypted messages created by Tarrío, authorities maintain that the members talked about attacking the Capitol. One message read: “Time to pile those bodies up in front of the Capitol.” In another, he asked if people were going to “bring down the police lines and storm the Capitol buildings.”
Prosecutors allege that even after his arrest, Tarrío maintained command over the Proud Boys who attacked the Capitol on January 6 and cheered his actions from afar.
Three of his comrades, Nordean, Pezzola, Biggs and Rehl, were part of the first wave of assailants to invade Capitol grounds and break through police barricades, according to prosecutors. Pezzola used a riot shield he stole from a Capitol police officer to break a window, allowing the first assailants to enter the building, prosecutors allege.
Nordean was president of the Auburn, Washington, chapter of the Proud Boys; Biggs, from Ormond Beach, Florida, calls himself the organizer of the Proud Boys; Rehl was president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Proud Boys; and Dominic Pezzola was a member of the Proud Boys from Rochester, New York.
In general, defense attorneys have denied that Proud Boys leaders planned or directed an attack on the Capitol. Tarrío’s defenders say he did not instruct or encourage anyone to enter the Capitol or engage in violent or destructive behavior.
Nordean’s attorney accused the Justice Department of selective prosecution and targeting him based on his political beliefs and associations.
Rehl’s attorney asked the judge to dismiss the charge, citing the First Amendment and arguing that the case was based solely on Rehl’s political views and free speech.
