Proud Boys’ leaders did not escape justice, and nor should Trump

They wanted a revolution.

Instead, the justice system served up jail time for five members of the Proud Boys, a far-right nationalist organization. Five members, including its longtime “chairman,” now face prison sentences of 20 years or more after being found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a jury in Washington, D.C. The five men were convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that sought to prevent the peaceful transition of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and chairman Enrique Tarrio were identified as leaders of the organization and convicted of a range of charges that include obstructing the Electoral College vote, tampering with evidence and seditious conspiracy, the most serious of the charges.

Seditious conspiracy is a rarely used law created during the civil war to prosecute Confederate sympathizers operating within the Capitol to defeat the Union. Today, it is generally reserved for domestic terrorists operating on U.S. soil.

A fifth defendant, Dominic Pezzola, was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy but guilty on several other charges related to the Capitol riots, including conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging official duties and destruction of government property.

The convictions demonstrate that with proper investment of time and resources, America’s justice system can prevail, a reality that underscores the need to continue investigations and prosecutions of disgraced former President Trump and other perpetrators of the insurrection.

The conviction of Tarrio also demonstrates that people who were not physically present at the Capitol that day are not immune from prosecution for their role in the deadly attacks. Tarrio was not in Washington, D.C., that day, as he had been ordered to leave the city two days earlier after being charged with possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as felony in the city. Despite leaving, he could not escape responsibility for his role in organizing the violent uprising and creating a command and communications structure to try to help it succeed.

Tarrio’s conviction should put Trump on notice that he could face legal liability and serious jail time for his role in supporting the insurrectionists’ violent fight to overthrow democracy and install him as president.

Despite defense attorneys’ best efforts at painting the insurrection as a spontaneous and unplanned descent into chaos, the verdict marks the third time a jury has determined that the siege of the Capitol was a planned assault intended to intimidate lawmakers, seize control of key government facilities and overthrow democracy. While we generally agree with defense attorneys’ characterization of their clients as essentially vulgar idiots, this status should not shield an adult from responsibility for planning, organizing and executing a violent crime that took the lives multiple Capitol police officers.

Prosecutors have proven time and again that Proud Boys were among the leaders of the assault on the Capitol, breached the barriers and police lines, and communicated intentionally to keep the violent mob pushing forward onto the House floor. Many of the participants in the insurrection have stated unequivocally that they believed they were acting on the orders and commands of then-President Trump.

Critical members of Trump’s inner circle, including his own daughter and loyal hand-picked attorney general, testified to the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol that there was no election fraud and that Trump was told he had certainly lost. Despite knowing he had no legal claim to the presidency, Trump still tried to steal a free and fair election. Meanwhile, his fellow plotters understood their criminal acts so well that they begged Trump for presidential pardons.

Trump’s status as a presidential candidate should not be allowed to act as a shield against accountability for his actions prior to the riot or for his inaction as the insurrection unfolded. If there is insufficient evidence to hold him accountable in a court of law, then the voters must ensure he is held accountable at the ballot box and never again allowed to occupy public office.

The same is true of the Republican bootlickers who continue to support him and his false, manipulative claims of voter fraud. Among those who continue to spread these false claims is Nevada’s own Jim Marchant, who just last week announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Marchant contributed to the Jan. 6 insurrection by spreading lies about voter fraud and volunteering to be part of an alternate slate of pro-Trump electors who sought to impose their will on Nevada voters by overturning the results of the 2020 election. His Senate candidacy is disgraceful.

The Republican Party is plummeting toward fascism and cannot be allowed to pull the levers of power until it renounces the oppressive radicals it currently celebrates. We must reject those who seek to overturn democracy by holding anti-American extremists accountable for their actions in the courts of law and at the ballot box.