'Jubilation' when Trump called their name: Sedition trial starts to crack apart Proud Boys texts

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday February 08, 2023 · 6:44 PM PST

2023/02/08 · 18:44

Proud Boys trial exhibit shows defendant Dominic Pezzola clutching a police riot shield. — At the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial, jurors saw this image of defendant Dominic Pezzola allegedly taking a riot shield after it was dislodged from the hands of a former U.S. Capitol Police Officer on Jan. 6.

Jubilation.

“Jubilation” was the word that FBI Special Agent Peter Dubrowski used in court Wednesday to describe how Proud Boys reacted in their private communications when former President Donald Trump told them to “stand back and stand by” during a presidential debate in 2020.

The upswell of joy, Dubrowski told prosecutors, came fast, and it was Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the ringleader of the extremist group, who echoed Trump’s messaging to members in a Telegram chat that September.

“Guys...” Tarrio wrote. “Standby.”

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday February 08, 2023 · 5:32 AM PST

2023/02/08 · 05:32

It is Day 16 of the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial and testimony is expected to continue this morning from an FBI agent with expertise in encrypted communications. Catch up here.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday February 07, 2023 · 5:04 AM PST

2023/02/07 · 05:04

The Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial unfolding in Washington, D.C. gets underway again today at 9;30 a.m. ET. Catch up on the latest here.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Monday February 06, 2023 · 11:52 AM PST

2023/02/06 · 11:52

It will be a summer of prison sentences for former members of the extremist Oath Keepers group.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Friday February 03, 2023 · 10:52 AM PST

2023/02/03 · 10:52

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: Members of the far-right group known as the Proud Boys sign a document on the grounds of the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol earlier, breaking windows and clashing with police officers. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Shae Cooney told jurors this week at the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial, she was certain it was one of the defendants who called her a “pig” on Jan. 6, 2021, because he was looking right at her when he said it.

“It was one of the first words said to me that day,” Cooney, now a six-year veteran of the force, testified.

Another she heard was “traitor.”

Those first words of Cooney's day were allegedly delivered by defendant Ethan Nordean, just one of five Proud Boys who prosecutors say conspired to forcibly stop the transfer of power and obstruct Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election.

Cooney didn’t refer to Nordean by name, but when his defense attorney Nick Smith pressed her, the former Chili’s-waitress-turned-M4-rifle-toting-officer was certain: It was his client who screamed epithets at her and other officers before he and fellow Proud Boys and rioters were whipped into a frenzy, storming over splintered barriers that were ripped up from the concrete.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday February 02, 2023 · 5:48 AM PST

2023/02/02 · 05:48

The Proud Boys on trial for seditious conspiracy enter Day 14 of proceedings on Thursday. If you want to catch up, here’s where we left off.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday February 01, 2023 · 5:31 AM PST

2023/02/01 · 05:31

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 20: Members of the Proud Boys march in Manhattan against vaccine mandates on November 20, 2021 in New York City. A U.S. Circuit Court granted an emergency stay to temporarily stop the Biden administration's vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

The Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial enters Day 13. Live blog starts at 9 AM ET. Get in while you can—Judge Timothy Kelly said court will end at 3 PM ET due to a scheduling issue with a juror.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday January 31, 2023 · 4:43 PM PST

2023/01/31 · 16:43

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 12: Members of the Proud Boys march towards Freedom Plaza during a protest on December 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. Thousands of protesters who refuse to accept that President-elect Joe Biden won the election are rallying ahead of the electoral college vote to make Trump's 306-to-232 loss official. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

The seditious conspiracy trial of Proud Boy ringleader Henry Tarrio and four of his “boys” facing allegations that they tried to forcibly stop the nation’s transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, has moved at a grinding pace. Objections are lobbed feverishly by defense attorneys and mistrials are called for on a near-daily basis.

There have been no less than nine calls for a mistrial by the defense in the past 12 days and attorneys for the defendants, Henry Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola, have cited an array of reasons, from grievances over previously agreed-upon evidence to the frequently unflattering testimony from witnesses for the government.

The requests to end the trial are so common that presiding U.S. District Judge Tim Kelly, a Trump appointee, even remarked to defense attorney Carmen Hernandez on Monday when she made her last request: “It wouldn’t be a day in this trial if there wasn’t a call for a mistrial.”

Judge Kelly has denied all of these requests thus far and as far as objections go, he has given parties on both sides regular opportunities to course-correct or reframe their questions or presentations. But nevertheless, the regular flow of disruptions and frequent infighting over evidence has made individual court days drag out: Witnesses so far have largely been unable to complete testimony in a single day, or even in two.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday January 31, 2023 · 5:47 AM PST

2023/01/31 · 05:47

FBI Special Agent Kate Camilleri will return to the witness stand Tuesday to offer jurors insights on the defendant Proud Boys as the seditious conspiracy trial enters its 12th day. Catch up here.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Monday January 30, 2023 · 5:15 AM PST

2023/01/30 · 05:15

Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, Jan. 6, 2021.

The Proud Boys’ seditious conspiracy trial picks up Monday at 9 AM. Court was abruptly and unexpectedly canceled last week on what would have been Day 10 of proceedings. Details to come.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday January 25, 2023 · 5:04 AM PST

2023/01/25 · 05:04

Former Proud Boy Matthew Greene is expected back on the witness stand in the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial in Washington, D.C. Catch up here. Live coverage starts at 9 a.m. ET.

Brandi Buchman

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday January 24, 2023 · 5:03 PM PST

2023/01/24 · 17:03

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 20: Members of the Proud Boys rally against vaccine mandates on November 20, 2021 in New York City. A U.S. Circuit Court granted an emergency stay to temporarily stop the Biden administration's vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

When former Proud Boy Matthew Greene testified at the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial on Tuesday, he told jurors that after he started inhaling pepper spray and watched as a man was hit in the face by a rubber bullet, he started to second-guess his decision to come to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

But he didn’t leave. He kept advancing and while he never made it inside, Greene was ultimately charged a few weeks after Jan. 6 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction in December 2021 for his role in the insurrection. He was the very first Proud Boy to accept a plea deal in the Justice Department’s probe of the attack.

His testimony stretched for the entire day as prosecutors worked to have Greene carve out an intimate look at what it was like when he and fellow members of the extremist group—namely, defendant Dominic Pezzola—descended on Washington, D.C., after former president Donald Trump had called for a “wild” rally just weeks before.

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