The DOJ is Seeking Far More Prison Time for the Proud Boys Than the Oath Keepers. Here's Why

     Last week, the DOJ released its sentencing memorandum for the five Proud Boys convicted of a combined 31 felonies at trial back in May, including four convicted of the Civil War-era seditious conspiracy charge. Believe me when I say that memorandum is a whopper. The Justice Department wants 33 years for former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio as well as Florida leader and former InfoWars figure Joseph Biggs, 30 years for Philadelphia Proud Boys leader Zachary Rehl, 27 years in prison for top Tarrio lieutenant Ethan Nordean, and 20 years in prison for New York recruit Dominic Pezzola. That's a combined 143 years in prison. 

     For reference, the DOJ sought a combined 149 years in prison for the NINE Oath Keepers defendants convicted at trial. They wanted just under 17 years in prison on average for each of the Oath Keepers defendants, but they want just under 29 years on average for the Proud Boys defendants. Why the difference?

     For one thing, the groups' plots were widely different as were their actions. The Oath Keepers committed sedition and their plan, which included stockpiling weapons and creating a Quick Reaction Force, was an alarming threat to democracy. However, once they actually made it onto Capitol grounds, the Oath Keepers pushed past a line of police, wandered the Capitol in search of politicians like Nancy Pelosi, and then left. They did very little to actually follow through on their plan once they made it into Washington.

     The Proud Boys also had an alarming plan called the "1776 Returns," one that aimed to occupy federal buildings, starting with the Capitol. However, unlike the Oath Keepers, they largely succeeded. Tarrio created a "Ministry of Self-Defense" to organize the events at the Capitol that day, including Rehl, Nordean, and Biggs. The trio, in turn, recruited nearly 200 Proud Boys members, including Pezzola, to storm the Capitol. Each was specially suited for what happened that day. While not a single Oath Keepers defendant had a violent criminal history prior to January 6th, the five Proud Boys in this case dedicated years of their lives to advancing neo-fascism through violence.

     Tarrio has a long criminal history. This 2020 legislative candidate pleaded guilty in the early 2000s to selling expired diabetic test strips and received a sentence of just under three years in prison. After this, he worked extensively as an FBI informant on drug- and firearms-related cases. In December 2020, he and his fellow Proud Boys, including Pezzola, twice brought chaos and violence to D.C. He burned a Black Lives Matter banner and brought illegal firearms into D.C. as a convicted felon. As a result of his bond conditions and of a tip that would later lead to the indictment of a D.C. police officer, Tarrio (who would later serve five months in prison after pleading guilty to these charges) remained stationed outside of D.C. in a Baltimore hotel.

     Pezzola was a relatively new Proud Boys member, but he was responsible for robbing and assaulting an officer, rushing past police lines, and using a shield to break a window hundreds of insurrectionists would enter. Pezzola also had manuals on using explosives when his home was searched. Nordean has a long history of political violence and went viral on a number of occasions for his actions, becoming notorious for his ability to turn a peaceful event in Portland and other cities into a violent brawl in spite of repeated attempts at intervention by relatives. Nordean was the on-the-ground leader that day, coordinating the march to the Capitol with Biggs and Rehl. Rehl, who pepper sprayed an officer that day and lied on the stand, was the head of the Philadelphia chapter of the Proud Boys. He was more aggressive than most chapter heads around the country, prioritizing members he believed could, in his words, "crack skulls." In one instance, he and his supporters posted flyers claiming a left-wing activist was a convicted sex offender, resulting in threats against her life. However, as a former Marine and the son of a police officer, he managed to avoid criminal charges for his street crimes. Biggs was a former Right Side Broadcasting Network and InfoWars presenter who became a key member of the Proud Boys and spent years advocating for date rape, revenge porn, sexual violence, violence against the LGBT2SQIA+ community, and other unspeakable filth. He was also with Tarrio at the burning of the BLM flag at a historically-black DC church.

     The Proud Boys, with these five men primarily responsible, were involved in nearly all of the breaches of the Capitol and most of the violence and destruction of property that took place that day. If it had been just the Oath Keepers there on January 6th, there might have been very little violence; had it been just the Proud Boys, just as much violence would have occurred. In what they did and who they are, the Proud Boys are the more culpable of the two groups, hence the longer sentencing requests. Let's hope Judge Kelly sees the damage these men have done by normalizing political violence even before Trump entered the White House and sentences them all to 20 to 33 years in prison. We the people demand accountability for these insurrectionists.