Trump To Blame For Jan. 6, Proud Boys Lawyer Says At Trial

WASHINGTON, DC — A lawyer for former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio of Florida said Donald Trump is to blame for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and federal authorities are using Tarrio as a scapegoat for the former president's actions, according to an Associated Press report.

Defense lawyer Nayib Hassan made his statements Tuesday during the second day of closing arguments in the landmark trial against Tarrio and four others charged with seditious conspiracy for their roles in the riot.

During his argument, Hassan said Tarrio wasn't in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 after he was banned following his arrest on allegations that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner. Trump, Hassan argued, was the one to blame for extorting a crowd outside the White House to "fight like hell."

"It was Donald Trump's words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on Jan. 6 in your beautiful and amazing city," Hassan told jurors in Washington federal court. "It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power."

Jurors in the high-profile trial began hearing opening statements in January, more than two years after the far-right group members joined a mob of Trump mob supporters in attacking the Capitol to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

Tarrio, of Miami, is charged with one count of seditious conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties concerning Tarrio's role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Seditious conspiracy carries a possible prison term of up to 20 years.

The seditious conspiracy trial is the second related to the Jan. 6 attack. In November, a jury found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, the far-right group's Florida chapter leader, guilty of the same charge.

Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys and Florida state director of Latinos for Trump, was previously indicted on seven other charges, according to federal officials.

Tarrio's co-defendants are Ethan Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, who was a Proud Boys chapter president; Joseph Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, a self-described Proud Boys organizer; Zachary Rehl, who was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia; and Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

• RELATED: Proud Boys Leader, 4 Others Face New Charges Over Jan. 6 Riot

According to court documents, Tarrio created a special chapter of the Proud Boys known as the "Ministry of Self Defense." Through the group, Tarrio, Nordean, Biggs, Rehl, and Pezzola conspired to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, authorities said.

All five men are accused of mobilizing and leading members of the Proud Boys in attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio and his co-defendants claimed credit for what happened on social media and in an encrypted chat room during and after the attack, authorities said.

A sixth defendant, who was charged with the group in an earlier indictment, pleaded guilty in April 2022. Charles Donohoe, of Kernersville, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers.

A prosecutor told jurors on Monday during the first day of closing arguments that the Proud Boys were ready for "all-out war" and viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him.

"These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trump's army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it," said the prosecutor, Conor Mulroe.

Jurors could begin deliberating as soon as Tuesday after hearing closing arguments and a rebuttal from prosecutors.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.