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NEW YORK (AP) – Two men identified as members of the Proud Boys have been charged with federal conspiracy and other charges in the Capitol Riot as prosecutors raise issues in some of the many cases stemming from the 6 January.
Dominic Pezzola, a former Marine who authorities said was seen in video smashing a Capitol window with a riot shield stolen from Capitol Police, and William Pepe, who authorities said was photographed in inside the building, were arrested earlier in the month on federal charges including unlawfully. enter a restricted building. The two, both from New York state, have now been indicted in Washington on charges that recently include the conspiracy.
“The object of the plot was to obstruct, influence, hinder and interfere with law enforcement officers engaged in their official duties of protecting the United States Capitol and its grounds,” said the indictment, accusing Pezzola, Pepe and others of leading a group of Proud Boys and others on Capitol Hill and moving police barricades there.
Pezzola then ripped off an officer’s shield and used it to smash the window, according to the indictment, which was filed in court on Friday.
Pezzola’s attorney, Michael Scibetta, said on Saturday that he was investigating the charges but had yet to be able to discuss the indictment with his client, who is being held without bail. Pepe’s attorney, Shelli Peterson, declined to comment.
Three self-proclaimed members of paramilitary group charged with conspiracy this month and accused of plotting the attack on the Capitol. But the new charges against Pezzola and Pepe appear to be the first conspiracy cases involving suspected members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group of self-proclaimed “Western chauvinists”.
Michael Sherwin, Washington’s acting US attorney, said in a court filing Friday that Pezzola “demonstrated persistence, determination and coordination by being on the front lines every step of the way before stepping onto Capitol Hill.” , and that his actions upset the window and allow a first group of rioters to pass “cannot be overstated.”
Pezzola was then seen on video inside the Capitol with a cigar, having what he called a “victory smoke,” and bragging that he “knew we could get the upper hand,” Sherwin wrote. . He argued that the remarks showed that Pezzola “had invested a significant personal effort in gaining control of the Capitol and had done so in coordination with others.
An unidentified witness told the FBI that Pezzola was with a group on Capitol Hill whose members said they would have killed anyone they captured, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President of the Mike Pence era, according to prosecutors. The witness added that group members said they would come back on “20” and kill anyone they could. The presidential inauguration took place on January 20.
During a search of Pezzola’s home in Rochester, New York, FBI agents found a USB drive containing hundreds of files detailing how to make firearms, poisons or explosives, Sherwin wrote, claiming that Pezzola should continue to be held without bail.
Pezzola, 43, served six years in the United States in the Marines as an infantryman and was discharged in 2005 at the rank of corporal, according to service records. His lawyer said his client was a self-employed person and a father.
Pepe, 31, was photographed inside the Capitol and later identified as a Metro-North Railroad station worker who called in sick to travel to Washington for a January 6 protest by supporters of the President of the Donald Trump era, according to a January. 11 complaint to the criminal court. Pepe, who lives in Beacon in New York’s Hudson Valley, has since been suspended without pay from his job at the New York-area commuter railroad.
At Trump’s urging, thousands of protesters flocked to Capitol Hill. Some then stormed it, temporarily disrupting Congress’ certification of Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory over Republican Trump in the November election.
Overall, federal authorities charged more than 150 people during the siege on Capitol Hill.
The Justice Department said Pepe and Pezzola went to Proud Boys rallies and had tactical vests emblazoned with the group’s logo.
The group is known for its violent clashes with anti-fascists and other ideological opponents during protests. At one notable point in the election campaign last year, Trump told the group to ‘step back and be ready’ when asked in a September debate whether he would condemn white supremacy and militias that showed up at some protests last summer.
Shortly before the Capitol Riot, Proud Boys frontman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was arrested in Washington and sentenced to stay out of town after being accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner in a historic black church in December.
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