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What incidents or criminal convictions have been linked to Proud Boys members?
Executive summary
Proud Boys members have been tied to a wide range of violent incidents, civil judgments and criminal convictions — most prominently convictions for seditious conspiracy and related crimes for roles in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach, including a 22‑year sentence for former leader Enrique Tarrio [1] [2]. Courts have also found the group liable in a racially motivated attack on a Black church in Washington, D.C., ordering more than $1 million in damages [3].
1. Capitol riot: seditious conspiracy and long federal sentences
Federal prosecutors secured convictions of Proud Boys leaders for seditious conspiracy and related offenses tied to the January 6 attack; the Department of Justice framed those verdicts as holding “some of the most prominent members” accountable after more than 600 Jan. 6 convictions overall [4]. Enrique Tarrio received a record 22‑year sentence for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to orchestrating Proud Boys activity, and other leaders likewise received multi‑year prison terms [1] [2]. Reporting and court documents name other leaders — including Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — among those prosecuted, convicted or sentenced for actions at the Capitol [5] [6] [7].
2. Assaults, obstruction and property destruction tied to members
Beyond seditious conspiracy, members were convicted of offenses such as obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent Congress and destruction of government property; Dominic Pezzola was specifically accused of stealing a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield and using it to smash a window during the breach [8] [5]. Federal press releases and news outlets list convictions for assaulting officers and obstructing the certification of the 2020 election among the criminal counts linked to Proud Boys members [4] [8].
3. Civil liability for racially‑motivated vandalism of a Black church
A D.C. civil judgment concluded Proud Boys leaders and affiliates carried out a racially motivated attack on the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in December 2020; a judge ordered the group and several leaders to pay more than $1 million under federal and D.C. bias‑crime and civil rights statutes [3] [9]. The judge described the conduct as hateful and overtly racist, and courts later awarded the church the group’s trademarked name and symbols to satisfy money judgments after the Proud Boys failed to pay [10] [3].
4. A pattern of violent confrontations at protests and events
Multiple research and watchdog reports document repeated Proud Boys involvement in violent street clashes and targeted harassment at protests, rallies and events — from Charlottesville in 2017 to fights at Drag Queen Story Hours and other local incidents — with state dockets reflecting assault, unlawful assembly and weapons violations [11] [12] [13]. Academic datasets estimated dozens of ideologically motivated incidents tied to members through 2021, a figure START at UMD quantified as 83 alleged actors by year‑end 2021 [14] [15].
5. Divergent legal outcomes, clemency and appeals
Legal outcomes have varied: some leaders served lengthy sentences; others had sentences commuted or pardons issued after 2025, prompting further litigation and appeals. The Biden‑era prosecutions led to convictions and long terms, while the Trump administration’s later clemency actions affected the status of many defendants — a fact sources note in coverage of subsequent lawsuits by pardoned or commuted Proud Boys leaders challenging their prosecutions [16] [8] [5].
6. Data, watchdogs and differing framings of the group
Academic and civil‑society work emphasizes the Proud Boys’ regular resort to political violence and connections to white‑nationalist currents; the Combating Terrorism Center, Everytown, ADL and START describe recurring violence and extremist ideology in the group’s history [17] [11] [14] [18]. Media investigations (e.g., Reuters) cataloged dozens of violent incidents and framed the organization as moving from street brawls into more coordinated attacks culminating on January 6 [19].
7. Gaps and disagreements in reporting
Available sources converge on major events (Capitol convictions, church vandalism, repeated protest violence), but differ in emphasis and scope: academic datasets give conservative counts of incidents through 2021 [14], while investigative outlets compiled broader incident lists and timelines reaching beyond that period [19] [13]. Sources do not uniformly list every individual conviction or local arrest, and “available sources do not mention” a complete, up‑to‑date catalogue of every Proud Boys member prosecuted across all jurisdictions.
Final note: the public record in these sources documents both criminal convictions (notably for Jan. 6) and civil findings (notably the church case), while also showing ongoing legal disputes, clemency actions and differing assessments of the group’s present activity level [4] [3] [20].