Former Proud Boy Says Group Prepared for 'All-Out Revolution' on Jan. 6 [View all]
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON — As a gang of Proud Boys stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Jeremy Bertino, one of the leaders of the far-right group, was at home in North Carolina, watching livestreams of the riot and offering advice to his compatriots on the ground.
Recovering from stab wounds he sustained during an earlier pro-Trump rally, Mr. Bertino was trying his best to aid his fellow Proud Boys in what he believed was another American Revolution. In a barrage of messages, he told his friends to “form a spear,” encouraging them to move en masse toward the Capitol.
“I was excited,” he testified Wednesday. “I thought I was watching history and watching the guys about to go into the building.”
Appearing for a second day of testimony at the seditious conspiracy trial of five members of the Proud Boys in Federal District Court in Washington, Mr. Bertino gave the proceeding a sudden burst of drama by taking the stand against his former associates. After nearly six weeks of arcane arguments about evidence and often lackluster testimony, Mr. Bertino offered jurors an insider’s glimpse of the growing sense of desperation within both the Proud Boys’ leadership and rank and file in the weeks leading up to the Capitol attack.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/us/politics/proud-boys-jan-6-trial.html
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