New York (AP) – Two men identified as members of the Proud Boys have been charged with federal conspiracy and other charges in the Capitol Revolt as prosecutors increase involvement in some of the numerous cases stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Dominic Pezzola, a former sailor who according to authorities was seen in a video breaking a Capitol window with a riot shield stolen from the Capitol Police, and William Pepe, who authorities said was photographed inside the building, was arrested earlier this month by federal charges that included illegally entering a restricted building. The two, both from New York State, have been charged in Washington with charges that include recent conspiracy.
“The purpose of the conspiracy was to obstruct, influence, impede and interfere with law enforcement officers engaged in their official duties in protecting the United States Capitol and its grounds,” the indictment states, Pezzola, Pepe and other unnamed people lead a group of Proud and others to the Capitol and there by moving police barricades.
Pezzola ripped off an officer’s coat of arms and used it to break the window, according to the indictment, which appeared in court Friday.
Pezzola’s attorney, Michael Scibetta, said Saturday he was investigating the charges, but had not yet been able to discuss the indictment with his client, who is being held without bail. A Pepe lawyer, Shelli Peterson, declined to comment.
Three members of a self-described paramilitary group were charged with conspiracy this month and accused of plotting the attack on the Capitol. But the new charges against Pezzola and Pepe appear to be the first cases of conspiracy involving alleged members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group of self-proclaimed “Western sexists.”
Michael Sherwin, a U.S. attorney in Washington, said in a court hearing Friday that Pezzola “demonstrated perseverance, determination and coordination by being on the front line every step of the way before entering the Capitol.” and that his actions in destroying the window and allowing an initial group of riots to transmit “cannot be overstated.”
Pezzola was later seen in a video inside the Capitol with a cigar, with what he called “smoke of victory” and boasted that “he knew we could take this,” Sherwin wrote. He argued that the statements showed that Pezzola “invested a significant personal effort to take over the Capitol and that he did so in coordination with others.”
An unidentified witness told the FBI that Pezzola was with a group at the Capitol, whose members said they would have killed anyone they got, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence , according to prosecutors. The witness added that people in the group said they would return on “Day 20” and kill anyone they could. The presidential inauguration was on January 20th.
In a search of Pezzola’s home in Rochester, New York, FBI agents found a memory unit with hundreds of files detailing how to make firearms, poisons or explosives, Sherwin wrote arguing that Pezzola s’ he should be detained without bail.
Pezzola, 43, served in the Marines for six years as an infantryman and was discharged in 2005 from the rank of corporal, according to service records. His lawyer has said his client is self-employed and is a family man.
Pepe, 31, was photographed inside the Capitol and later identified as a Metro-North Railroad yard worker who had called sick to go to Washington to protest on January 6 by supporters of the Capitol. then President Donald Trump, according to a statement issued in January. 11 criminal court complaint. Pepe, who lives in Beacon, Hudson Valley, New York, has since been suspended without pay for his work on the New York City commuter railroad.
At Trump’s urging, thousands of protesters marched toward the Capitol. Some stormed it, temporarily altering Congress ’certification of Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory over Republican Trump in the November election.
In general, federal authorities have charged more than 150 people in the siege of the Capitol.
The Justice Department said both Pepe and Pezzola have gone to Proud Boys meetings and have tactical vests with the group logo.
The group is known for violent clashes with anti-fascists and other ideological opponents in the protests. At a notable point in last year’s campaign, Trump told the group to “stay behind and stand by.” when asked in a September debate whether he would condemn the supremacist and white militia groups that ran in some protests last summer.
Shortly before the Capitol Revolt, Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was arrested in Washington and ordered to stay out of town after being accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic black church in december.