Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and subordinates go to trial in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case

Washington — Enrique Tarrio, the founder of the right-wing Proud Boys, and several of his lieutenants are to stand trial on Monday for conspiring to use force to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Before members of another far-right group, the Oath Keepers — some now convicted of seditious conspiracy – made their way to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, federal prosecutors allege members of the Proud Boys were violently provoking police and spearheading the charge to break into the building. 

According to an indictment describing the government's case against the leaders of the Proud Boys, some of the defendants gathered with more than 100 members of the group near the Washington Monument on Jan. 6 around the time that former President Donald Trump was speaking at the White House Ellipse. They allegedly marched to the Capitol grounds and communicated with radios before a member of the mob who is not charged in the case broke the police line and pushed forward, setting off the rioting that would soon engulf Capitol Hill.