Four men described as leaders of the far-right Proud Boys were accused of protests at the U.S. Capitol, as an unsealed order charged on Friday presents new evidence of how federal officials believe the group members planned and conducted a coordinated attack to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
So far, at least 19 neo-fascist Proud Boys leaders, members or associates have been charged in federal court with offenses related to the January 6 riots. The latest charge suggests that the Proud Boys have deployed a much larger contingent in Washington, with more than 60 users “participating” in an encrypted message channel for members of the group that was created the day before the riots.
The Proud Boys abandoned an earlier channel and created the new channel “Boots on the Ground” after the police arrested the group’s leader, Enrique Tarrio, in Washington. Tarrio was arrested on January 4 and accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter band in a historic black church during a protest in December. He was ordered to stay outside the District of Columbia.
Tarrio was not charged with connection to the riots, but the latest charge refers to him for his title of president of the Proud Boys.
Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs, two of the four defendants charged in the latest charge, were arrested several weeks ago on separate but related charges. The new charge also charges Zachary Rehl and Charles Donohoe.
All four defendants are accused of conspiring to prevent Congressional voter certification of the Electoral College. Other charges in the indictment include obstruction of an official process, obstruction of law enforcement during civil unrest and disorderly conduct.
Nordean, 30, from Auburn, Washington, was a president of the Proud Boys chapter and a member of the group’s national “Council of Elders”. Biggs, 37, of Ormond Beach, Florida, describes himself as the organizer of the Proud Boys. Rehl, 35, of Philadelphia, and Donohoe, 33, of North Carolina, serve as presidents of the local chapters of the Proud Boys, according to the prosecution.
A Biggs lawyer declined to comment. Lawyers for the other three men did not immediately respond to messages asking for comment on Friday.
Members of the Proud Boys, who describe themselves as a politically incorrect men’s club for “western chauvinists”, often get involved in street fights with anti-fascist activists at rallies and protests. Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling him as a hate group.
The Proud Boys met at the Washington Monument at around 10 am on January 6 and marched to the Capitol before then President Donald Trump finished addressing thousands of supporters near the White House.
About two hours later, just before Congress called a joint session to certify the election results, a group of Proud Boys followed a crowd that broke through barriers at a pedestrian entrance to Capitol grounds, the prosecution says. Several Proud Boys also entered the Capitol building after the crowd broke windows and forced open doors.
At 3:38 pm, Donohoe announced on the “Boots on the Ground” channel that he and others were “regrouping with a second force” when some protesters started to leave Capitol, according to the prosecution.
“This was not just a march. This was an incredible attack on our government institutions, ”said Attorney General Jason McCullough during a recent hearing for the Nordean case.
Prosecutors said the Proud Boys had arranged for members to communicate using specific frequencies on Baofeng radios. Chinese-made devices can be programmed for use on hundreds of frequencies, making them difficult for strangers to hear.
After Tarrio’s arrest, Donohoe expressed concern that his encrypted communications could be “compromised” when the police searched the group president’s phone number, according to the new charge. In a January 4 post on a newly created channel, Donohoe warned members that they might be “looking at the gang charges” and wrote: “Stop everything immediately,” says the prosecution.
“It comes from above,” he added.
The day before the riots, Biggs posted on the “Boots on the Ground” channel that the group had a “plan” for the night before and the day of the riots, according to the prosecution.
In Nordean’s case, a federal judge accused prosecutors of backtracking on his claims that he instructed the members of the Proud Boys to split into smaller groups and directed a “strategic plan” to violate the Capitol.
“This is a far cry from what I heard at today’s hearing,” United States District Judge Beryl Howell said on March 3.
Howell concluded that Nordean was largely involved in “pre-planning” for the January 6 events and that he and other Proud Boys “were clearly prepared for a violent confrontation” that day. However, she said the evidence that Nordean ordered other members of the Proud Boys to break into the building is “weak to say the least” and ordered that he be released from prison before the trial.
On Friday, Howell ordered Proud Boys member Christopher Worrell to be detained in federal custody pending trial on riot-related charges. Prosecutors say Worrell traveled to Washington and coordinated with the Proud Boys who led to the siege.
“Using tactical equipment and armed with a can of pepper spray gel marketed as 67 times more powerful than the hot sauce, Worrell stepped forward, protected himself behind a wooden platform and other protesters and unloaded the gel on the police line” , prosecutors wrote in a lawsuit.
Defense attorney John Pierce argued that his client was not targeting the police and was only there in the crowd to exercise his freedom of speech rights.
“He is a veteran. He loves his country, ”said Pierce.
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Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Associated Press editor Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.