Former Proud Boys leader convicted of orchestrating plot to attack US Capitol on 6 January 2021
Former leader of far-right group the Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio has been convicted of orchestrating a plot to attack the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
The attack led to members of the group storming the building after Joe Biden was officially confirmed as the next president.
Tarrio, along with three other members of the group, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy – which is conspiring against the legitimacy of the state.
During the election campaign, Donald Trump spoke directly to the Proud Boys, known as a militant, gun-carrying group, telling them to “stand back and stand by”.
The charges carry up to 20 years in prison.
In a big milestone, it means the US Justice Department has now secured seditious conspiracy convictions against leaders of two right-wing groups, the other being the Oath Keepers, who were said to be doing everything they could to keep Joe Biden out of the White House.
Tarrio was not in Washington DC on the day of the attack – he was arrested two days prior and ordered to leave the city.
However, prosecutors said he led and orchestrated proceedings carried out by his group, which saw itself as “Trump’s Army”, on 6 January.
The Proud Boys were “lined up behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf,” prosecutor Conor Mulroe said in his closing argument during the trial.
Prosecutors used hundreds of messages between members of the group in evidence, that showed the Proud Boys peddling conspiracy theories and misinformation about the notion of a “stolen election” and what might happen when Joe Biden took office.
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In one social message, Tarrio wrote while the attack was ongoing: “Do what must be done”.
He later said in a group chat for his members to “do it again” and “make no mistake, we did this”.
The defence did said there was no plot to attack the Capitol, or prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s win, with an attorney for Tarrio even trying to blame Trump, saying he himself incited the riots.
“It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your beautiful and amazing city,” attorney Nayib Hassan said in his final appeal to jurors.
“It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J Trump and those in power.”
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Who were the Capitol rioters?
Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola were the other members also convicted, some of which led chapters of the Proud Boys in other states.
In recent weeks, it was reported former Vice President Mike Pence gave testimony to the committee set up to investigate the riots, apparently giving seven hours of evidence.
Mr Pence was tasked with certifying the 2020 election result in Congress, and was reportedly pressed by Trump to ignore the result.
There were images and videos during the riots of people calling for the death of Mr Pence after he confirmed the election result.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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