The Proud Boys Trial

One of the January 6 trials that's had less notice is the Proud Boys Trial currently under way:

In Washington, D.C., members of the Proud Boys are on trial related to their alleged actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It is the second major seditious conspiracy trial related to the insurrection following one late last year involving members of the Oath Keepers.

This hasn't been well covered, in part because so far, it hasn't been a slam-dunk for the government. The AP has more details:

The former Proud Boys national chairman is standing trial on the most serious charge that has been lodged in the U.S. Capitol attack. That’s seditious conspiracy, which is the same offense that two Oath Keepers leaders were convicted of weeks ago.

It’s the third such trial in the massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that forced Congress to adjourn as lawmakers and staff hid from a violent mob. Opening statements began on Thursday [January 12, 2023], and the trial is expected to last at least six weeks.

Prosecutors in the case against former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants will try to prove that the extremist group plotted for weeks to use force to keep then-President Donald Trump in power. Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6 — he was arrested in a separate case two days earlier — but authorities say he helped put into motion the violence and cheered on the riot from afar as it unfolded.

Even at the start of the case, one of Tarrio's alleged co-conspirators, Ethan Nordean, had to be released on bail when a judge determined he wasn't a specific threat:

“Mr. Nordean’s alleged membership in the Proud Boys does not make him a danger to others or the community,” his defense team had written to the court. “While the government devotes a portion of its lengthy memorandum to the statements and actions of other alleged members of the Proud Boys, none of the footage suggests that Mr. Nordean himself was involved in anything more serious or sinister.”

In Nordean’s case, prosecutors tried to argue he had a passport at the ready that was of another man, and had expressed interest in moving out of Washington state. But his defense attorney on Monday argued that didn’t show he was ready to flee – and that the passport belonged to his wife’s ex-partner, whom he didn’t closely resemble.

This account of the trial indicates it's been contentious throughout:

The Capitol riot trial for Proud Boys leaders promised to be a historic showcase for some of the most compelling evidence of an alleged plot by far-right extremists to halt the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.

One month into the trial, there have been plenty of fireworks, but mostly when the jury wasn’t in the courtroom.

Lawyers representing the five Proud Boys charged with seditious conspiracy have repeatedly sparred with U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly during breaks in testimony. At least 10 times, those lawyers have argued in vain for him to declare a mistrial.

The calls for a mistrial have only increased with the Tucker Carlson release of January 6 film and especially, the testimony of an FBI agent, Nicole Miller:

Lawyer Roger Roots is representing Dominic Pezzola and has moved for the court to not merely dismiss the case, but to pause all Jan. 6 prosecutions pending evidentiary hearings, the Epoch Times reported.

Fueling Roots' request is an exchange from the testimony of FBI Special Agent Nicole Miller. Attorney Nick Smith, who represents Pezzola co-defendant Ethan Nordean, revealed classified FBI emails that included an order to Miller that she remove an FBI agent from the informant report and destroy 338 pieces of evidence outright.

According to Politico,

The lawyers also cited several other exchanges they viewed as fishy: a message from one agent asking that his name be edited out of a report concerning a meeting with a confidential human source; an FBI agent’s opinion about the strength of the Proud Boys conspiracy case; and a message from an agent discussing an order to destroy 338 pieces of evidence in an unidentified case.

Defense attorneys said they should be permitted to grill Miller about each of these topics when the trial resumes this week. The hidden messages sparked an uproar on Thursday, when Nicholas Smith, attorney for defendant Ethan Nordean, began questioning Miller about them. Prosecutors objected and later indicated they believed there had been a “spill” of classified information in the messages — a claim the defense lawyers worried was a pretense to shut down their review. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly called the trial off for the day Friday to give the Justice Department and the defense a chance to clarify the issues.

Robert Gouveia, a criminal defense attorney, has given an entertaining review on YouTube of both the defense and prosecution arguments submitted to Judge Kelly on Sunday, here and here.

My memory is long enough to take me back to the Chicago Seven Trial over the 1968 riots at the Chicago Democrat Party convention, which was better publicized (likely due to media bias in favor of the defendants) and, it would seem, more entertaining. But it strikes me as covering similar political ground. According to the Wikipedia link,

The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged by the United States federal government with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War and 1960s counterculture protests in Chicago, Illinois, during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The Chicago Eight became the Chicago Seven after the case against co-defendant Bobby Seale was declared a mistrial.

All of the defendants were charged with and acquitted of conspiracy; Davis, Dellinger, Hayden, Hoffman, and Rubin were charged with and convicted of crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot; Froines and Weiner were charged with teaching demonstrators how to construct incendiary devices and acquitted of those charges. All of the convictions were later reversed on appeal and the government declined to retry the case. While the jury deliberated, Judge Julius Hoffman convicted the defendants and their attorneys for contempt of court and sentenced them to jail sentences ranging from less than three months to more than four years. The contempt convictions were also appealed, and some were retried before a different judge.

As I write this, Judge Kelly has yet to rule on the arguments the prosecution and defense submitted to him Sunday. But no matter how he rules -- unless he declares a mistrial, for which the likelihood is at least greater than null -- the circus is likely to continue, and I strongly suspect the eventual outcome will be much like that with the Chicago Seven.