WASHINGTON, D.C. (KYW Newsradio) — The sedition trial of Philadelphia Proud Boys president Zach Rehl and four co-defendants for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol got underway in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Federal prosecutor Jason McCullough accuses Rehl, 36, and the others of organizing and leading the violence at the Capitol. In a more than one-hour opening statement, McCullough used videos and statements from the defendants to show their intent to stir up violence.
Each of the five defendants — including former national chairman Enrique Tarrio, Washington chapter president Ethan Nordean, Florida chapter president Joseph Biggs, and New York member Dominic Pezzola — faces charges including seditious conspiracy, which by itself carries a 20-year prison sentence.
McCullough told jurors the Proud Boys’ national public profile exploded after the September 2020 presidential debate. That night, when President Donald Trump was asked to denounce organizations like the Proud Boys, he instead said, “Stand back and stand by.”
McCullough said the Proud Boys leaders believed the 2020 election was stolen, and when Trump announced he would hold a rally on the morning of Jan. 6, they were no longer “standing by.”
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Included with the evidence was a video of Rehl leading a group toward the police line, shouting, “F— them! Storm the Capitol!” One of the defendants, McCullough alleged, was the first to smash a window and gain entry to the building.
After the defendants had breached the Capitol, McCullough said, they celebrated in euphoria, as if a sports team had just won a big game, saying Rehl paused for a cigar in a lawmaker’s office.
McCullough showed quotations from Tarrio, including “Make no mistake, we did this" and "I’m proud as f— at what we accomplished.”
According to prosecutors, Tarrio handpicked the other four defendants to lead a new Proud Boys chapter called The Ministry of Self-defense, charged with recruiting members to take part in the storming of the Capitol, and to organize it on the ground.
But defense attorneys say federal prosecutors are simply trying to scapegoat the five men by stitching together texts and message board comments. Rehl’s lawyer asked for a mistrial, saying the opening from prosecutors took quotes out of context and arguing that the images and videos were prejudicial and inflammatory.
That motion was denied.
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The defense pins the blame on former President Donald Trump, saying he riled up the crowd at his Jan. 6 rally.
Tarrio’s lawyer Sabino Jauregui says it’s too hard for federal prosecutors to charge politicians like Trump with, as he puts it, his army of lawyers, so instead they’re going after the Proud Boys.
Prosecutors will need to prove that the five men were intending to overthrow the government or interfere with the execution of federal law.
The defense says they will show there was no advance planning and no evidence of any messages before Jan. 6 about storming the Capitol or plotting any crime or violence.
And while the activities that day were “a crass spectacle in front of the entire world,” there were thousands of people who took part, and thousands of discrete communications that could have happened leading up to it.
The trial is expected to last six weeks.