Former leader of far-right group Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio has been convicted of orchestrating a plot to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 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 and armed group, telling them to “stand back and watch”.
The charges carry up to 20 years in prison.
In a major milestone, it means the US Justice Department has now secured convictions for seditious conspiracy against the leaders of two right-wing groups, 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 had been arrested two days earlier and ordered to leave the city.
However, prosecutors said that on Jan. 6, he led and orchestrated proceedings carried out by his group, which considered itself “Trump’s army.”
The Proud Boys were “deployed behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf,” prosecutor Conor Mulroe said in his closing argument during the trial.
