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4d ago

Proud Boys Leaders File $100 Million Lawsuit Alleging Political Prosecution in Jan. 6 Case

The Florida complaint claims the Justice Department pursued a political prosecution of Tarrio, Nordean, Rehl, Biggs and Pezzola after their Jan. 6 convictions

FILE - Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is flanked by Dominic Pezzola, left, and Joseph Biggs, right, at a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Members of the far-right Proud Boys, including leader Enrique Tarrio, center, rally in support of President Donald Trump to protest against the results of the 2020 presidential election, in Washington, DC, in November 2020.
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Overview

  • Former leader Enrique Tarrio, Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola filed the suit in Orlando federal court on June 6 following President Trump’s clemency order
  • They allege DOJ and FBI agents engaged in “egregious, systemic abuse” of constitutional rights through tactics such as planting evidence, tapping attorney calls, solitary confinement, embedded informants
  • Four were convicted of seditious conspiracy in a 2023 trial, while Dominic Pezzola faced other felony counts after being acquitted of conspiracy
  • The suit demands $100 million in punitive damages plus unspecified compensatory relief for alleged Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment violations by federal prosecutors
  • The outcome could require President Trump’s Justice Department to justify its prosecutions of January 6 defendants in the face of a potential $100 million payout