The handler's response was redacted from a screenshot that a defense attorney showed to jurors.Ī prosecutor later suggested that the informant sent that text only after it became clear that he and other members could be in serious trouble. He also told his handler that the Proud Boys “did not do it, nor inspire." 6, 2021, writing in a text message that police barriers were down and the crowd was almost at the building. The informant was communicating with his FBI handler as the mob of Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol on Jan. Carmen Hernandez, a lawyer for Rehl, asked a judge to schedule an immediate emergency hearing and suspend the trial “until these issues have been considered and resolved.” Carolyn Kaster/AP Show More Show Less Capitol, a defense lawyer said in a court filing. Federal prosecutors disclosed Wednesday, March 22, 2023, that a witness expected to testify for the defense at the seditious conspiracy trial of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four associates was secretly acting as a government informant for nearly two years after the Jan. Capitol in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump, Jan. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Jose Luis Magana/AP Show More Show Less 3 of4 FILE - Proud Boys members Zachary Rehl, left, and Ethan Nordean, walk toward the U.S. Federal prosecutors are employing an unusual strategy to prove leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group orchestrated a violent plot to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House, even though some of the defendants didn't carry out the violence themselves. Allison Dinner/AP Show More Show Less 2 of4 FILE - Rioters wave flags on the West Front of the U.S. Jurors will hear testimony by defense witnesses before they begin deliberating. Federal prosecutors have rested their seditious conspiracy case against former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants charged with plotting to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election. Pezzola was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.Īssociated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston contributed to this report.1 of4 FILE - Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio wears a hat that says The War Boys during a rally in Portland, Ore., Sept. Rehl was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter leader. Federal authorities haven’t publicly released much information about their use of informants in investigating the Proud Boys’ role in a mob’s attack on the Capitol on Jan. Law enforcement routinely uses informants in criminal investigations, but their methods and identities can be closely guarded secrets. Hernandez said there are “reasons to doubt the veracity of the government’s explanation and justification for withholding information about the (confidential human sources) who have been involved in the case.” She could not immediately be reached for additional comment. 6.įBI Agent Nicole Miller testified last week that she was aware of two informants in the Proud Boys, including one who marched on the Capital on Jan. Defense attorneys have repeatedly pushed to get more information about informants in the far-right extremist group as they try to undermine the notion that the group had a plan to attack the Capital on Jan. It’s not the first time the government’s use of informants has become an issue in the case. Tarrio, Rehl and three other Proud Boys - Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Dominic Pezzola - are charged with conspiring to block the transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election. The trial in Washington’s federal court is one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. Defense lawyers have repeatedly asked the judge in vain to declare a mistrial over a variety of issues they say have been unfair to their clients. It’s the latest twist in a trial that has been bogged down by bickering between lawyers and the judge and already lasted much longer than expected. The informant also has been in contact with at least one of the defense lawyers and at least one of the five defendants, Hernandez wrote. In her court filing, Hernandez said the unnamed informant participated in “prayer meetings” with relatives of at least one of the Proud Boys on trial and had discussions with family members about replacing one of the defense lawyers on the case.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |