\n\n“A top lieutenant of the Proud Boys\u2019 chairman, Enrique Tarrio, described on Wednesday a growing desperation among the group\u2019s leaders as Jan. 6, 2021, approached and then-President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the election results sputtered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when the group\u2019s thoughts turned to \u201call-out revolution,\u201d according to Jeremy Bertino, the Justice Department\u2019s star witness in the seditious conspiracy trial of Tarrio and four other Proud Boys leaders, who are charged with orchestrating a violent attempt to derail the transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bertino, who pleaded guilty to his own seditious conspiracy charge last year, gave jurors an insider\u2019s view of the Proud Boys\u2019 leadership as Jan. 6 approached and the group became increasingly convinced that the Biden presidency posed an existential threat. Those views, prodded along at times by Trump\u2019s own efforts to subvert his defeat, intensified after Tarrio was arrested on Jan. 4, 2021, upon arriving in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, the group\u2019s leaders \u2014 Tarrio and Joe Biggs of Florida, Ethan Nordean of Seattle, Zachary Rehl of Philadelphia and Dominic Pezzola of New York \u2014 are facing the gravest charges to emerge from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“\u201cI thought I was watching history,\u201d Bertino recalled. \u201cI thought it was historical. I thought it was a revolution starting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When one member of the group informed others that then-Vice President Mike Pence had resisted Trump\u2019s entreaties to overturn the election on his own, Bertino assured them: \u201cDon\u2019t worry, boys. America\u2019s taking care of it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bertino\u2019s jubilance turned into fury after Trump told rioters to go home and law enforcement cleared the Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe failed,\u201d he told other Proud Boys in various Telegram chats, after Congress had returned to continue certifying Biden\u2019s victory. He lamented that the rioters caused mayhem simply to \u201ctake selfies in Pelosi\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That sentiment continued into Jan. 7.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Bertino also clarified an odd text to Tarrio that read \u201cThey need to get peloton.\u201d It was an autocorrect for Pelosi, Bertino said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe was the target, as far as the one who had been pushing the information [about the election],\u201d Bertino recalled thinking. \u201cShe was the talking head of the opposition. And they needed to remove her from power.\u201d”<\/p>\n\n\n\n