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“No quarter. Raise the black flag.”

Enrique Tarrio is raging online about President Joe Biden’s election victory. It’s November 2020, a couple of months before the January 6 insurrection.

But Tarrio isn’t just an angry Donald Trump supporter posting on the internet. He’s the leader of the right-wing Proud Boys group with perhaps thousands of members ultimately reporting to him.

He wanted Mr Trump to remain in office, warning of a second civil war. So he and others hatched a plan, one that culminated in the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

A series of documents and messages, revealed by prosecutors at trial, shows the lengths they went to: from secret text chains to planning 50-man teams to occupy buildings in the capital.

Tarrio and his associate Ethan Nordean, another senior Proud Boy, will now be sentenced today after being found guilty of seditious conspiracy, a rare charge carrying up to 20 years in prison.

Two others – Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl – will be sentenced tomorrow for the same charge.

The sentencing comes the same month as Mr Trump was charged in the US state of Georgia with trying to illegally overturn the 2020 election.

Sky News reveals below exactly how the four men planned to overthrow democracy and asks a key question: are the Proud Boys still a threat?

FILE - Rioters stand outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.  A new poll shows that about half of Americans say former President Donald Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in what happened on Jan. 6. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 48% of U.S. adults believe Trump should be held accountable for what happened during the deadly Capitol attack.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
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Rioters outside the US Capitol on January 6. Pic: AP

Trump: ‘Proud Boys, stand back, and stand by’

Formed during the alt-right explosion of 2016, the exclusively-male Proud Boys regard themselves as “Western chauvinists” who “refuse to apologise for creating the modern world”.

Variously described as a street gang, a hate group or “kids who were picked last at kickball”, the Proud Boys have been designated as a terror group in two countries – Canada and New Zealand.

The group’s roots are as a “boys drinking club”, Katherine Keneally, an expert on political violence at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, tells Sky News.

“But what we saw, especially with the emergence of Trump, is this shifted from it being a drinking club to them going out on the streets, particularly at COVID-related protests, racial justice protests, and engaging in violence with protesters.”

As the movement grew, dozens of chapters of the Proud Boys sprang up in the majority of US states.

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Trump to Proud Boys: ‘Stand back, and stand by’

The watershed moment came in September 2020, and the infamous line from Trump live on television: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”

This caused an immediate shift in their behaviour, Ms Keneally says, with the group emboldened by the belief that they had support from the President.

“They had already been garnering public support leading up to January 6, and that helped them translate to them actually directing people unaffiliated with the Proud Boys during the insurrection.”

“They viewed themselves as the president’s own military in some respects,” she added.

WASHINGTON D.C., NOVEMBER 14- Enrique Tarrio and the Proud Boys demonstrate near Freedom Plaza during the Million Maga March protest regarding election results on November 14, 2020 in Washington D.C. Photo: Chris Tuite/imageSPACE/MediaPunch /IPX
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A Proud Boys jacket at a demonstration near Freedom Plaza in DC. Pic: AP

The plan for January 6

“Fill the buildings with patriots and communicate our demands,” the plan says.

This is the incendiary ‘1776 Returns’ document, a secret Proud Boys internal plan prosecutors say was sent to Tarrio.

Its stated goals include maintaining control “over a select few, but crucial buildings in the DC area for a set period of time” and getting as “many people as possible inside these buildings”.

“These are OUR buildings, they are just renting space,” the document reads. “We must show our politicians We the People are in charge.”

FILE - Proud Boys members Zachary Rehl, left, and Ethan Nordean, right, walk toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group were convicted Thursday of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 presidential election. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
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Zachary Rehl (left) and Ethan Nordean (right) on January 6. Pic: AP

The document set out plans in detail for how Proud Boys would occupy buildings, with specialist roles given to leads (“covert sleeper”), “hypeman” and “recruiter”.

“Have leads and seconds open the doors for the crowd to enter,” it says. “This might include causing trouble near the front doors to distract guards who may be holding the doors off.”

Readers are instructed to use COVID-19 to their advantage by wearing face coverings to protect their identities.

Prosecutors say that Tarrio was sent the 1776 Returns document by an unnamed individual, who told him: “The revolution is more important than anything.”

Tarrio responded: “That’s what every waking moment consists of… I’m not playing games.”

FILE - Proud Boys members Joseph Biggs, left, and Ethan Nordean, right with megaphone, walk toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group have been convicted of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
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Proud Boys members Joseph Biggs (left) and Ethan Nordean (right) walk toward the Capitol. Pic: AP

What happened at the Proud Boys trial?

Tarrio, Nordean, Biggs and Rehl along with a fifth defendant, Dominic Pezzola, were put on trial charged with conspiring to oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force (seditious conspiracy) and a number of other charges in relation to January 6.

In his 80-minute opening statement, assistant US attorney Jason McCullough said in the days after the 2020 election the defendants had started “calling for action, calling for war, if their favoured candidate was not elected.”

Alluding to Mr Trump’s remark, the prosecutor added: “They did not stand back. They did not stand by. Instead, they mobilised.”

The indictment laid out how Tarrio, enraged at President Biden’s victory, posted on social media in November 2020: “F*** unity. No quarter. Raise the black flag.”

Associated with military conflict, the phrase ‘no quarter’ suggests that enemy combatants should be killed rather than taken prisoner.

FILE - Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio rallies in Portland, Ore., Aug. 17, 2019. Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond has been arrested on charges that he lied about leaking confidential information to a leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and obstructed an investigation after group members destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner in Washington, D.C. Lamond is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Friday. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
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Enrique Tarrio at a rally in Portland, Oregon in 2019. Pic: AP

The jury heard how after the election Tarrio posted on social media that the presidency was being stolen and vowed his group wouldn’t “go quietly”.

Mr McCullough also cited messages from Tarrio on January 6, including: “Make no mistake… We did this.”

“Those are his words, his thoughts, just minutes after Congress had been forced to stop its work,” McCullough said. “They did what they’d set out to do.”

And while Tarrio himself wasn’t at the Capitol on the day of the insurrection, he messaged with members throughout the riot, prosecutors said.

‘Their commander-in-chief sold them a lie’

Defence lawyers denied their clients planned or led an attack on the Capitol and suggested they were being targeted for their political beliefs.

Tarrio’s attorney, Sabino Jauregui, told jurors his client was being made a scapegoat because he “wrote and sent a lot of offensive things”.

“Speaking what you think is not illegal in this country yet,” he continued, before he closed with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Rehl’s lawyer, Carmen Hernandez, said her client came to the nation’s capital simply to protest. “I submit to you that Mr Rehl came to DC to exercise his First Amendment rights,” she told the jury.

Nick Smith, a lawyer for Nordean, who led a Proud Boys chapter in Washington state, told jurors they would see no evidence of a “complicated, long-running plot”.

“What you will see in the Telegram chats is a bunch of text messages that are tempting you to find guilt based on your dislike of these people,” he said. “Do not take the bait.”

In this Jan. 6, 2021, photo, Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, left, Zachary Rehl and Joseph Biggs walk toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump. Four men described by prosecutors as leaders of the far-right Proud Boys have been indicted on charges that they planned and carried out a coordinated attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory. Nordean and Biggs, two of the four defendants charged in the latest
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Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean (left), Zachary Rehl and Joseph Biggs walk toward the US Capitol on January 6. Pic: AP

Norm Pattis, a lawyer for Joe Biggs, said the defendants came to Washington because their “commander-in-chief” told them it would “be wild”, referring to Mr Trump’s infamous tweet that called on supporters to come to Washington on January 6.

“Their commander-in-chief sold them a lie,” he said.

Pezzola’s lawyer, Roger Roots, downplayed the attack on the Capitol, which temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College ballots.

“Believe it or not, this entire case is about a six-hour delay of Congress,” Roots told the jury. “The government makes a big deal out of this six-hour recess.”

Guilty of seditious conspiracy

Tarrio, Biggs, Nordean and Rehl were found guilty of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Pezzola was cleared of seditious conspiracy and a jury could not reach an agreement on the charge of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Pezzola, who was caught on video smashing in a window with a Capitol Police shield during the riot, was separately charged with stealing the police shield and found guilty.

He was also convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, while the four other defendants were acquitted on that charge.

The judge declared a mistrial in respect of various other counts in the trial upon which the jury did not reach conclusions.

FILE - Rioters, including Dominic Pezzola, center with police shield, are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. A federal jury is scheduled to hear a second day of attorneys... closing arguments in the landmark trial for former Proud Boys extremist group leaders charged with plotting to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
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Rioters, including Dominic Pezzola (centre) with police shield, inside the Capitol. Pic: AP

How big are the Proud Boys now?

With the next US presidential election barely a year away some are asking if we are likely to see a repeat of the violent scenes of January 6… or another attempt to overturn the result if Mr Trump is not the victor.

Are the Proud Boys still a threat to American democracy?

Their numbers have grown dramatically since 2020, reaching 78 chapters in 2022, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center organisation.

But that may not tell the whole story, as it does not necessarily mean that the number of Proud Boys members has increased, experts say.

“I think many would have expected the Proud Boys to kind of fade away by now,” Colin P Clarke, director of research and an expert on domestic terrorism at the Soufan Group, tells Sky News.

“But there seems to be a real sense of pride in pushing forward with all their different activities, and they’ve positioned themselves as a player in the culture wars more broadly.”

However Colin Beck, a professor at Pomona College and an expert in social movements, said that while the Proud Boys brand may have continued to spread, the amount of support may have decreased.

“There’s now a real cost,” he tells Sky News. “If you go to a Proud Boys event you might end up in jail.

“The US federal government is very good at suppressing protests when it chooses to do so.”

Trump ‘abandoned’ the Proud Boys

Another factor, Katherine Keneally says, is the Proud Boys have in many ways distanced themselves from Mr Trump and feel “betrayed” by him.

She pointed to fears of Proud Boys protests over the indictment of the former president which did not come to pass.

“He wasn’t helping fund their legal efforts. He just sort of abandoned them,” she said. “So there has been this distrust that’s been happening with Trump.”

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Watch US Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s statement here.

Asked about the future, she doubts there will be a repeat of January 6 as Proud Boys are now focussing much more on local action and running for local office.

“I’m not actually worried about the Proud Boys,” Ms Beck says. “In some ways they’re like the has-beens.”

“It’s who the Proud Boys become next…what is the group that emerges?

“Because all the people who are adherents or sympathetic, they don’t go away. They just move on to something else.”

Mr Clarke raised the idea the Proud Boys could act as a “feeder” or “preparatory school” for more extreme groups.

Asked how likely a repeat of the Capitol insurrection is if a Democrat wins in 2024, Mr Clarke said: “We have to learn from January 6 that when these guys say that they’re going to do something, we have to take them seriously and prepare for it.”

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Julian Assange formally admits spying charge as part of a plea deal with US authorities

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Julian Assange formally admits spying charge as part of a plea deal with US authorities

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to one count of espionage as part of a plea deal with US authorities.

The agreement means Assange will be sentenced to time already served in a British prison.

His court appearance took place on the US territory of Saipan. He left the UK on Monday after being released on bail from Belmarsh high security jail.

The US request to extradite Assange on spying charges has been dropped and he is expected to fly to his home country of Australia shortly to be reunited with his wife and children.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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Julian Assange flies out of UK on $500,000 private jet after being freed in US plea deal

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Julian Assange flies out of UK on 0,000 private jet after being freed in US plea deal

Julian Assange is travelling to his native Australia on a private jet after US authorities agreed to drop their demand for the WikiLeaks founder to be extradited from the UK having struck a plea deal with him.

Assange had to pay $500,000 (£394,000) for a chartered flight from Stansted to Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands – a US commonwealth in the Pacific – where he will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.

In exchange he will be sentenced to time served – the 62 months he has already spent in a British prison – according to court documents.

Julian Assange at Stansted Airport Pic: Wikileaks
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Assange at the airport after leaving prison. Pic: WikiLeaks

Once the guilty plea has been accepted by a judge, the 52-year-old will be free to return to Australia, the country of his birth.

The chartered flight stopped in Bangkok for refuelling on its way to Saipan.

Assange is accompanied by a WikiLeaks lawyer, a representative of the Australian government and a medic to check on his health.

American prosecutors had alleged Assange put lives at risk when he helped former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files WikiLeaks put online in 2010.

He had been locked in a legal battle in the UK over his extradition, which included him entering the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012 prior to his detention in Belmarsh prison – where he has been since May 2019.

‘Julian is free!’

In a post on X, WikiLeaks said Assange left Belmarsh on Monday morning after being granted bail by the High Court. By the afternoon he was at Stansted Airport where he boarded a plane and left the UK.

“After more than five years in a 2×3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars,” the organisation said.

Stella Assange with her children, Max and Gabriel, marking Julian's 50th birthday back in 2021. Pic: Reuters
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Stella Assange with her children, Max and Gabriel, marking Julian’s 50th birthday back in 2021. Pic: Reuters


Mrs Assange shared on social media a video montage of her husband in a car and then boarding a plane.

She wrote: “Julian is free!!!!

“Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU – yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.”

She posted on X to say Assange will owe $520,000 to the Australian government for the charter flight and asked for donations to help pay for it.

Speaking from Australia, Mrs Assange told the PA news agency: “It is hard to believe that Julian has been in prison for so long. It had become normalised. I am grateful to the people who made this possible but I am also angry that it ever came to this.

“Overall I am elated but I cannot believe it is actually happening until I see Julian.”

Mrs Assange said her husband would not have been released without the intervention of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been increasingly vocal in his demands for the US to drop charges against Assange.

“The public climate has shifted and everyone understands that Julian has been the victim,” she said.

“Things are still very sensitive. Julian is paying for the flight so we will launch a fundraising campaign.”

She said she had travelled to Australia with the couple’s two young sons, Gabriel and Max, on Sunday when it became clear Assange would be freed.

Stella Assange speaking in London on 26 March. Pic: PA
Image:
Stella Assange speaking in London on 26 March. Pic: PA

WikiLeaks shared an update on Assange’s journey on X, posting a picture of him on a jet as it approached Bangkok for a stopover.

Assange’s plea and sentencing on Saipan are scheduled for Wednesday morning local time (Tuesday evening UK time).

The hearing is taking place in the US Commonwealth territory because of Assange’s opposition to travelling to one of the 50 US states and the court’s proximity to Australia.

Read more:
Timeline of Assange’s 13-year legal battle
Plea deal marks end of a transatlantic tug of war

Artist’s threat to destroy masterpieces ‘helped free Assange’

Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton told Sky News this morning the WikiLeaks founder is “overwhelmed to be out of prison”.

Mr Shipton added: “He’s been on a plane for a very long time now… I’ve been speaking to him this week and just going through all the details with him.

“He’s been very anxious, very excited, and he’s looking forward to spending time with his family and being free, being able to have the sun shining on his face, see the birds, go for a swim in the ocean back in Australia.

“He’s very much looking forward to that.”

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Assange brother praises ‘global effort’

Craig Murray, a friend of Assange, told Sky News the news was “absolutely wonderful”.

He said: “The whole family is totally elated that we have finally got an end to this terrible saga.”

Mr Murray said the entire ordeal has been “very taxing” on Assange with his imprisonment taking a toll on both his physical and mental health.

He added: “We are lucky that he is a very resilient man and he will recover and we will get our Julian fully back.”

Simon Crowther, Amnesty International’s legal adviser, said: “We welcome the news that Julian Assange is to be released, as we believe he should never have been imprisoned like this in the first place.

“The fight to protect freedom of expression continues though. The years-long global spectacle of the prosecution of a publisher for revealing alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and other human rights violations has undoubtedly done historic damage.”

A more than decade-long fight

Assange has been fighting extradition to the US for more than a decade.

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Australian PM: ‘We want Assange home’

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Who is Julian Assange?

In a January 2021 ruling, then district judge Vanessa Baraitser said he should not be sent to the US, citing a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

Later that year, US authorities won a High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Assange’s extradition.

In June 2022, the UK government approved the extradition of Assange to the US, with then home secretary Priti Patel having signed the extradition order.

Why has the US dropped the extradition demand?

The US formally asked the UK to extradite Julian Assange to face charges that he conspired to hack government computers and violated an espionage law in 2019.

After five years, this request has been dropped, with the US having come to a plea deal with the WikiLeaks founder – but why now?

Former CIA chief of staff, Larry Pfeiffer, says it is not unusual for these sorts of espionage cases to be adjudicated through plea deals.

“In these sorts of cases justice may not be the only issue that needs to be dealt with,” he told Sky News.

Mr Pfeiffer said if the case ever went to trial it would have risked “sources and methods” that the US military and government use being exposed.

“[This case] also served as a thorn in UK-US relations and US-Australian relations,” he added.

“It was creating issues surrounding what we all love, which is liberty and freedom of the case. By resolving this we resolved some of those troublesome issues.”

Mr Pfeiffer says overall he thinks the plea deal is a “win, win”.

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In February of this year, he made one final attempt under UK law to avoid being sent to the US.

In March, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assange’s legal arguments – but said unless assurances were given by the US, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

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These assurances were that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment – which protects freedom of speech in the US – that he would not be “prejudiced at trial” due to his nationality and the death penalty would not be imposed.

Three months later, in May, two High Court judges ruled he would be allowed to appeal against being extradited, would not face the death penalty and he could rely on the First Amendment if he faced a trial for spying.

The Australian government said it continues to provide consular assistance to Assange.

“Prime Minister Albanese has been clear – Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration,” a spokesperson said.

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Sloan Mattingly: Parents of girl who died after being buried by sand set up campaign to prevent similar tragedies

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Sloan Mattingly: Parents of girl who died after being buried by sand set up campaign to prevent similar tragedies

The parents of a seven-year-old girl who died after being buried by sand on a Florida beach have set up a national campaign to help prevent similar tragedies happening in future.

Sloan Mattingly had been helping to dig a hole with her brother Maddox, nine, when it collapsed on Tuesday 20 February.

Beachgoers at the scene in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea rushed to pull out the pair, but Sloan died after being taken to hospital.

She had reportedly been buried in the 1.8m (5ft 11in) deep pit for around 20 minutes. Her brother was also taken to hospital but was left in a stable condition.

Sloan’s mother Therese and father Jason have now set up a campaign encouraging families to build sandcastles when on the beach instead of digging potentially dangerous holes.

Mrs Mattingly said in a Facebook post raising awareness of the campaign: “Sloan’s legacy is of her heart and spirit, but is also a little bit this. Please stay safe and do NOT hesitate to speak up!”

The “Sandcastles For Sloan” campaign provides beachgoers with tips and advice to help prevent adults or children from becoming buried under sand.

It warns that “sand holes can collapse quickly” and advises people to “avoid digging deeper than knee height of the shortest person in your group”.

Pic: Sandcastles For Sloan
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Pic: Sandcastles For Sloan

Beachgoers are also advised to fill in holes after they are “done playing” to help keep other people safe.

Families are also urged to not let children put sand in their mouths.

A message with the campaign reads: “Sloan was a light in the world, a sweet little girl who loved dogs and the colour red.

“To honour Sloan’s memory, share this message with your beach community.”

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From February: Girl killed in sand collapse on Florida beach

The Mattingly family, from Fort Wayne in Indiana, were on holiday when the tragedy happened.

Mrs Mattingly described her daughter’s death as a “freak accident” in a tribute shared on a GoFundMe page for the family in February.

She added: “It took away our greatest 7.5 years. Don’t tell us you’re sorry for our loss… don’t do that to us. We experienced the purest human being and we are forever changed by her.

“We love you beyond any stretch of the imagination. Our sweet Sloan. What we would give.”

Sloan and Maddox Mattingly
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The Mattingly family. Pic: Facebook

The page raised more than $162,000 (£127,000) to help the family cover funeral costs and provide them with financial assistance due their period of grief.

Sloan’s uncle Chris Sloan, with the girl’s first name having been her mother’s maiden name, told KFOR-TV in February: “They were having a good time. Everybody was really excited to actually see them out there.”

He added: “Later we found out that after the sand had caved, [Sloan] kept trying to grab up Maddox’s leg to get up out of the sand, and eventually he couldn’t feel her moving anymore.

“The sand had been up to [Maddox’s] chest, and he was screaming for help, and a lot of people did come and help.”

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