Several suspected members of the far-right Proud Boys were arrested on Thursday on conspiracy and other charges for their alleged involvement in the US Capitol riots, while prosecutors continue to live in the right-wing groups and investigate what planning might be in the attack. be.
Kansas residents William Chrestman and four others have been arrested in Missouri and Arizona, authorities said. They accuse in two complaints the allegations that the five people coordinated their efforts to progress to the Capitol site together, dressed in tactical equipment wearing strips of orange tape.
According to several of Mr. Chrestman’s friends and former classmates grew up in California and developed more radical views over the past few years. They said before deleting his Facebook page, he posted conspiracy theories there about vaccines and QAnon, and he fed people with heated online debates.
According to statements for the arrest of the five people, they marched as a group along with other well-known members of the Proud Boys, who describe themselves as an organization for ‘Western chauvinists’. Several of the members had previously been arrested on similar charges and worked according to the affidavits to prevent law enforcement from securing the area.
Since the January 6 riot, more than 200 participants have been arrested on charges ranging from illegal entry of a restricted building to assault of federal officers. Prosecutors also focused more specifically on alleged members of the Proud Boys and various militia groups, including the Oathkeepers, and built cases accusing small subgroups of the larger group of rioters of coordinating their actions and planning the assault in advance.