Live: Follow along for Day 17 of the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial

Welcome to Day 17 of the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial. More communications leading up to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will be examined by the jury today. Catch up here. 

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 10:22:27 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

I will have a full recap up on Friday of this wild week in court! And I will be sure to include the exhibits once they are available publicly. 

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 10:21:54 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

With just two days to go until Jan. 6, Tarrio’s legal troubles mounted fast tied to his vandalism of the BLM flag in December. He was arrested on Jan. 4 and Proud Boys in the chats had started to panic. 

They wanted to “nuke chats” and Proud Boy Charles Donohoe warned the group not to add Enrique Tarrio to the chat unless they got a verbal confirmation. 

Ironically, the men discussed how deleting chats was a “waste of time” and Zachary Rehl noted how manual deletion was required for each message and that would only make it deleted for your phone. Plus, Rehl said, only the owner of the chat—in this case, Tarrio—would have the ability to “nuke” everything. 

“Since Enrique knew the cops were for him, hopefully he logged out of Telegram,” Rehl said. 

Donohoe replied: “At least they won't get our boots on the ground chat because we are one step ahead of them.” 

In short order, a brand new MOSD chat was created and this one included Biggs, Rehl, Nordean and other Proud Boys. 

Jeremy Bertino lamented it. “Ugh, we have to start all over.” 

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 10:13:13 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

The trial day moved very fast today as communications piled up. Here are some of the key details that emerged as the day wound down:

Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino invited Dominic Pezzola to the MOSD Main chat on Jan. 2

Tarrio sent a series of photographs of his vests, backpacks, and other tactical gear readied for Jan. 6 to three women he had romantic links to; a woman who was not identified in the exhibit Thursday, another woman who used the handle “mamafae” and then another woman who went by “Eryka.”

On Dec. 30, 2020, Eryka sent Tarrio an attachment containing the 1776 Returns document. That document contained details and plans on how to storm federal buildings for Jan. 6 and distract law enforcement. Notably, while several congressional buildings are listed as targets, the Capitol is not. And equally notable, this plan’s agenda starts at 1 p.m.,  the same time of the certification of the election. 

1776 Returns by Daily Kos

Eryka wrote to Tarrio: If you don’t like my plan, let me know and I will pitch elsewhere but I want you to be the executor and benefactor of my brilliance. If not, stop paying games with me. 

Tarrio replied: “I’m not playing games.” 

Did Tarrio send 1776 returns to any other person?
No
Did you find any instances of him discussing this in any detail with any other person?
no
Phrase Winter Palace, did you see it elsewhere, other than with mamafae?
Yes
Gonna see that later on?
Yes

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 8:48:12 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

More from that video conference clip shown to jurors. (I will upload it for you once its available to the press.) 

• Defendant Rehl also gave MOSD chat members guidance about when it was acceptable to steal a journalist’s phone. “If its an antifa journalist, it’s OK but not if its a conservative journalist.” 
• Tarrio also made recommendations to members about what was appropriate to do on Jan. 6
• Secrecy was heavily emphasized

And in a notable exchange with prosecutor Mulroe, FBI agent Dubrowski testified that in certain chat groups, leaders did not discuss a strategic objective for Jan. 6 though there was interest vocalized by members. 

Tarrio declined to talk about it with members but said eventually, they would learn details. 

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 8:40:00 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

Jurors saw more text messages from late December 2020. 

• Zachary Rehl discussed the hierarchy of the Proud Boys and boasted of being one of three head organizers. 
• On Dec. 28, 2020, Tarrio announced to members of the MOSD Main chat that they were going to hold a video conference where they would discuss “how this all works” going into Jan. 6. 
• The video conference was recorded and obtained by law enforcement; jurors saw it on Thursday. It was roughly 1.5 hours long and the discussion was not linear. At the meeting, Proud Boy Charles Donohoe (who has already pleaded guilty) laid out the Ministry of Self Defense principles while Tarrio discussed “op sec” or operations security. Tarrio warned against posting things on social media or sharing screenshots of Proud Boys communications outside of the group. Donohoe said the goal was for Proud Boys to “standardize” their conduct at national events with zero-tolerance for rulebreakers. Self defense was the topic Tarrio zeroed in on during the call, but he was quick to qualify: every situation called for a different kind of self defense. He also said that he and defendant Joe Biggs would handle the media. They knew how to “get a rise” out of the press and could “apply that concept to being on the ground” 

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 8:21:20 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

Questions and exhibits are flying. Will update again shortly.

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 6:56:47 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

There was also testimony from Dubrowski on Thursday about the alleged “coded” language that Proud Boys used in their chats for months. 

Often they used “minecraft”—the name of a video game—as a stand-in for violence or likely illegal conduct. 

Aug 6 Official Presidents Chat - warning for slur.

Rehl: my bar just got shut down by the city they've been open the whole shut down but the covid police finally caught up with then. fucking faggotry. I'm so pissed. if this shit goes on after the election...

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

Dec 29 2020. MOSD Main chait.
George Ghoul Gang Nada sends an audio message to the group around 8:19 PM.
I can't hear the audio from here in the media room but as soon as its available to share, I will.

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

Then user "BrotherHunter Jake Phillips" sends an audio file and he says, he completely agrees... when they do "seek and destroy" type missions with a goal, like in dc, where the target was BLM plaza and we were trying to take it, absolutely, we need to split into smaller groups..

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

BrotherHunter Jake Phillips continues in chat: ...these are our 40+ guys w/ canes and shit...that'll get there later as reinforcements but yeah if we could do that it would be fucking awesome.

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

12/29 MOSD chat
Vito (Il Duce) Russo sends an audio file and asks about "colors" for Jan 6 (the PB black and yellow)
"This this right here? This could grow some legs. Think about it. If we all went in as 'tifa, somehow using their fucking shit to ID ourselves among each other...

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

User El Chapo writes: this could break some legs, just saying. In Minecraft, of course.

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

MOSD chat Dec. 27
Biggs says: we need to make sure guys understand chain of command as soon as possible and understand break down of how things work and the workings of our system.

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

Upper tier leadership consists of 6 members broken up into 2 sections, operations/marketing.
ops: john stewart, rehl, rex ferg
marketing tarrio, biggs, nordean
If you're planning on coming on 6th, you have 2 choices: you're either w/this group or you're w/your home chapter.

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

Biggs says marketing doesnt sound like leadership, operations does.
Tarrio says finesse is important with these guys every word is important they'll learn quick when we're in the ground and who's addressing them. plus, we're on ops team.
OK, Biggs says

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 6:53:10 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

Exhibits containing the Proud Boys messages came fast and furious on Thursday. 

Here are some of the key details:

• By Dec. 28, 2020, a member in the “Skull and Bones” Proud Boys elders chat identified as Chris Phillips PB expressed frustration with Joseph Biggs and wanted him to “do the Proud Boys the right way.” Any dissent about forming a new chapter—the Ministry of Self Defense—and including Biggs was put to rest by Tarrio. MOSD would have a specific purpose, Agent Dubrowski told the jury and that purpose was spelled out in a message Tarrio sent on Dec. 26. Tarrio wrote to the group: “Whispers -— Seventeen seventy six.” 
• In December, other chat groups were established, like “Operation DC Street Sweepers.” That group’s membership featured the defendants and other Proud Boys like Aaron Wolkind. Wolkind went by the handle, “Aaron of the Bloody East” and Agent Dubrowski testified that Wolkind’s usual tenor in the chats was “particularly violent.” On Dec. 21, Wolkind told the defendants, “Our country is run by traitors. They’d be executed if they did what they did in a non-western culture.” 
• By Dec. 22, Proud Boys including Biggs, Nordean, and Tarrio had made travel arrangements to come to Washington, D.C. for the 6th. They had discussed gearing up and purchasing “stab” vests.
• Between Dec. 21 and Dec. 26, Tarrio began asking members, including Zachary Rehl, to start “pulling together” Proud Boys for the 6th. Tarrio asked Rehl to provide him with a list of 10 names from Rehl’s chapter in Pennsylvania. John Stewart, who went by the handle Johnny Blackbeard, told Tarrio he had a “jarhead or two that would be great for this.” They also discussed getting members involved who had experience with hand radios. 
• After the 26th, text log exhibits shown to jurors featured many blank spots. Prosecutor Conor Mulroe attempted to elicit testimony from Agent Dubrowski about why this might be but objections from defense attorneys precluded that from happening. Presumably, the messages that are missing from the log are missing because they are related. An FBI digital forensic examiner testified about how texts are stored or how they appear in extraction at an earlier point in the trial and it would seem to correlate. 
• Tarrio set up a “MOSD Main” member chat on Dec. 27 and used an icon of a man wearing a gas mask to label it. In this group: Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, John Stewart, Jeremy Bertino and Charles Donohoe. It would eventually grow to 100 members. Tarrio set up rules for the group: no fighting, stay on topic as much as possible, no screen shots allowed and no threats of violence. The rules caused much consternation among Proud Boys like Donohoe and Stewart; they weren’t confident the members could adhere to the rules. 
• Agent Dubrowski testified that there were times when leaders appeared to be responding to each other directly in the chat and were frequently engaged with one another. This was key testimony for the government because the defense has claimed repeatedly that often, members may have been in same chat, but they weren’t cognizant of what the other was saying or they weren’t directly replying to one another. 

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 5:14:48 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

WARNING: A quote from a Proud Boy in the chat features a slur. 

FBI Special Agent Peter Dubrowski is on the witness stand again today and direct examination will continue.

Chats shown so far this morning depict Proud Boys reacting to Trump's stand back, stand by remarks at the 2020 presidential debate and notably, there are conversations too about defendant Joseph Biggs' overt and public excitement about being able to "go fuck up" people. 

In the chats, Tarrio would not disavow Biggs. By Dec. 19, 2020—the date former President Donald Trump sent out his Jan. 6 ‘will be wild!’ tweet—Biggs was still at odds with elders of the extremist group. 

As Agent Dubrowski picked up his testimony on Thursday, he finally began to discuss the Ministry of Self Defense chats. 

That group was started on Dec. 20, 2020, one day after Trump’s Jan. 6 rally announcement. 

Henry Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and three others were participants in the MOSD chat and as time went on, other members joined, too. Those “others” would include: John Stewart, Jeremy Bertino, Charles Donohoe and, four others. 

Participants were largely leaders of various chapters. 

In that chat, Tarrio says: "This chapter will be hand selected members, purpose is to discourage and remove new fags and aggressive members from attending nat'l events"
Rally boys will always be a thing, we just need to be able to control and harness ourselves in these lrg #s

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

Tarrio describes the councils:
Marketing council to include: Tarrio, biggs, nordean
ops and planning: Johnny Blackbeard (John Stewart) Zach Rehl, Rex Ferg

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 · 4:38:05 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman

For expediency, since I am coming to court a bit behind schedule today, I will drop my Twitter thread here and then once we get to a break, I’ll start catching up with more text-based updates! 

Welcome to Day 17 of the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial.
Apologies for my delay starting my live-tweets this morning. But I'm here now and ready to cover the day.
Catch up on what you missed yesterday with my report embedded below.
Bonus: PB comms threaded ⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/q0aDJn5zD6

— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) February 9, 2023