Proud Boys Leader Gets Sentenced to 17 Years In Prison – The American Spectator

On Sep 1, 2023

Authorities today sentenced Joseph Biggs, the former leader of the Proud Boys in Florida, to 17 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. This marks the second-longest sentence among hundreds of Capitol riot cases, with Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes receiving the lengthiest term of 18 years for seditious conspiracy.

Federal prosecutors accused Biggs of leading a group of Proud Boys members, instigating the mob, and helping breach police lines in the Jan. 6 riot. They had recommended a 33-year prison term, arguing that Biggs committed “among the most serious crimes that this court will consider” and pushed the country “to the edge of a constitutional crisis.”

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, a Donald Trump appointee, handed down the 17-year sentence, stating, “That day broke our tradition of peacefully transferring power, which is among the most precious things that we had as Americans.” The judge stressed that what happened on Jan. 6 “should not ever happen again and cannot happen again.”

Biggs acknowledged that he “messed up that day” and said, “I know that I have to be punished.” But he maintained that he did not harbor “hate in [his] heart” and that he had been swayed by the crowd of Trump supporters present that day. He asked the judge to allow him to “take [his] daughter to school one day and pick her up.”

The judge will also sentence three other Proud Boys leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy, including former national leader Enrique Tarrio, Philadelphia leader Zachary Rehl, and Seattle leader Ethan Nordean.

The Capitol riot cases remain a focal point for federal prosecutors, with around 1,100 individuals charged and more than 600 sentenced to date.