OP-ED: Proud Boys verdict was an important moment in American history
Remember January 6, 2021? The attack on the United States Capitol? The event that Tucker Carlson called “mostly peaceful chaos”?
Well, Tucker, as usual, got it wrong, but that isn’t why I’m writing an op-ed today.
On Thursday, five members of a radical right-wing group known as the Proud Boys were convicted of several serious charges.
Four of them were convicted of the most serious of the charges, seditious conspiracy, which carries a potential sentence of 20 years in prison.
I’m writing to applaud the United States Attorney General’s office for a job well done, the jury and judge for doing their jobs with courage and conviction, and to point out two very interesting aspects of this trial and verdict.
A “conspiracy” requires an agreement between two or more people to commit an illegal act, with intent to achieve the goal of the agreement.
In most jurisdictions, conspiracy also requires an overt act toward furthering the agreement.
It is also noteworthy that a person does not need to be part of the “act” to be part of the “conspiracy.”
I’m pleased to report that the legal system in this case worked to perfection.
Perhaps you’re wondering why only four of the five men were convicted of the more serious charge. Why weren’t all convicted?
The jury evaluated the evidence and determined that one of the men, Dominic Pezzola, participated in the acts, but not in the conspiracy.
But the jury did not stop there in rendering a thoughtful and reasoned verdict.
The jury also found the Proud Boys’ leader, Enrique Tarrio, guilty of seditious conspiracy, although he did not participate in the actual assault on the Capitol.
Why are these distinctions important in the context of a jury verdict?
The most common criticism I’ve heard as a lawyer is that a citizen jury lacks the sophistication necessary to render a fair and impartial verdict in a complex case.
Conspiracy and sedition are unusual, somewhat complicated issues.
While no system operates with 100% accuracy, juries get things right in most cases, well over 95%, including even those with complexities and nuances like the Proud Boys criminal trial.
The American jury system has proven to be one of the most effective systems in the world.
I followed the trial at a distance. I did not observe gavel-to-gavel for the almost four months of trial.
But I heard and read about the evidence enough to know that the jury got it exactly right.
Obviously, the judge gave very careful and explicit instructions on the law.
The evidence demonstrated, overwhelmingly, that Proud Boys manned the front lines when the Capitol was assaulted, and the first barriers were defeated.
Jurors heard testimony from Capitol Police officers who defended the Capitol and FBI agents who investigated the insurrection.
Tarrio participated in the planning, but not the assault on the Capitol, simple as that.
He was not in Washington on January 6, 2021.
He was arrested two days earlier on separate charges and ordered out of DC.
However, federal prosecutors argued and proved that he planned, organized, and directed the insurrection and sedition by the Proud Boys.
Likewise, while the government could not prove that Pezzola participated in the planning, federal prosecutors did prove that he showed up on January 6 and participated in the mayhem and destruction.
Congratulations to the Justice Department, a dedicated district court judge named Timothy Kelley, and a citizen jury which sacrificed four months of its life to dispense justice in an extremely high-profile case.
The verdict was an important moment in our country’s history, a dismissal of right-wing naysayers like Carlson who tried to minimize the behavior of criminals.
Hopefully, Judge Kelley issues stiff sentences that will keep these traitors in prison for a long time.
I don’t know about you, but I for one feel safer today.
God bless America.
Mark M. Bello is an attorney and author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series and children’s social justice/safety picture books.
He also hosts the popular bi-weekly podcast Justice Counts.
Mark’s books may be found at all online booksellers and on his website at https://www.markmbello.com.
