A member of the Proud Boys yelled "Trump won" in front of his wife and child after a Washington, D.C., judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison for his role in the January 6, 2021, sacking of the U.S. Capitol.
Dominic Pezzola of Rochester, New York, on Friday was handed the prison term after a five-month trial involving him and Proud Boys leaders Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl on a series of charges related to their roles in instigating and executing a violent riot in an attempt to obstruct the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.
While acquitted of the most serious charges in the case, footage from the day of infamy showed Pezzola using a police riot shield to smash his way through a window of the Capitol, allowing hundreds of rioters to enter the building.
That charge, as well as allegations of obstructing a congressional proceeding and assaulting a police officer, ultimately led a jury to support his conviction, though Judge Timothy Kelly's sentence was less than what prosecutors initially sought.
In his plea to Judge Kelly—who described the events of January 6 as a "national disgrace" deserving of a harsh sentence—Pezzola claimed he was "a changed man," becoming emotional as he expressed regret for leaving his wife to care for the family as they grew older, according to reporters in the room.
But Pezzola, who tearfully told Kelly he had "given up politics" in that same speech, later appeared to let his frustrations out once Kelly had left the courtroom.
"Trump won," he yelled, as his wife and two daughters sat behind him.
The comment contrasted sharply with his own lawyers' statements on the record. In a legal motion in 2021, Pezzola's attorney claimed his client had been misled by the former president, and did not act with criminal intent that day.
"The President maintained that the election had been stolen and it was the duty of loyal citizens to 'stop the steal,'" the motion read. "Admittedly there was no rational basis for this claim, but it is apparent that the defendant was one of millions of Americans who were misled by the President's deception."
Pezzola's sentence was one of several handed down to a number of figures associated with right-wing groups intimately involved in the storming of the Capitol on January 6.
Stewart Rhodes, leader of the paramilitary organization known as the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison earlier this year for his role in organizing a violent plot to halt the certification of the election, including threats to assassinate then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
And moments after Pezzola's sentence, Nordean—a top lieutenant in the Proud Boys organization with a history of political violence prior to January 6—received a similar 18-year sentence for his role in organizing a phalanx of the group's members to charge the building.
In handing down the sentence, Kelly appeared to acknowledge Pezzola's earlier outburst, quipping that when they "walk out of the courtroom, they leave the courtroom and do or say things that ... aren't contrite at all."
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Nick Reynolds is a senior politics reporter at Newsweek. A native of Central New York, he previously worked as a ... Read more
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