Top leaders of the far-right Proud Boys group, including its national chairman, Enrique Tarrio, have been charged with seditious conspiracy for plotting to storm the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, in order to obstruct certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Donald Trump.
The move by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to charge Tarrio and four other Proud Boys members with seditious conspiracy in addition to previous charges of obstructing a congressional proceeding marks a major development in the criminal investigation of the Capitol attack.
It also comes in the same week the House select committee investigating the attack is due to begin televised public hearings.