Members of the far-right group Proud Boys make ‘OK’ hand gestures indicating ‘white power’ as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather in front of the US Capitol building to protest against the certification of the US presidential election results in 2020 by the US Congress in Washington , USA, January 6, 2021.
Jim Urquhart | Reuters
Two members of the far-right nationalist group, the Proud Boys, were charged in federal court on Friday with conspiracy to enforce law and other charges related to their participation in the January 6 deadly Capitol riots.
Dominic Pezzola, 43, of Rochester, New York and William Pepe, 31, of Beacon, New York, were initially charged with a criminal charge and arrested earlier this month, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The men were charged in federal court in DC on Friday on charges of conspiracy, civil disorder, unlawful entry into restricted buildings or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted buildings or grounds.
Pezzola is also facing charges of obstruction of an official process; additional scores of civil disorder and the assistance and support of civil disorder; US personal property robbery; attack, resistance or obstruction of certain officers; destruction of government property; and physical violence in a confined building or site.
Pepe was an employee of the Metro Transit Authority who used a sick day to travel to DC for the planned riots, according to an arrest warrant. The agency suspended him.
Pezzola, a former U.S. Marine, was filmed with a police shield breaking a window to violate the Capitol. Witnesses also told authorities that Pezzola, known to some as “Spaz”, said he had killed Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to a criminal indictment.
Prosecutors also said Pezzola posted a video on social media in which he smoked a cigar in the Capitol, saying, “Victory smoke in the Capitol, boys.”