A federal prosecutor told jurors in the seditious conspiracy case against members of the far-right Proud Boys that the defendants mobilized 'and took aim at the heart of our democracy' on Jan. 6.
The Justice Department said several of the defendants sprang into action hours after Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, 2020, about an upcoming rally in D.C., which Trump said"will be wild." A day later, Tarrio and others allegedly created the"Ministry of Self Defense," which prosecutor McCullough said in court was"ultimately harnessed" to assault the Capitol.
Nordean's lawyer, Nicholas Smith, used his opening statement to assert that the Department of Justice's case is logically flawed, and that just because there was a riot after a protest on Jan. 6, doesn't mean his client planned for the events to unfold as they did. Smith encouraged the jury to view the case as doctors would, detached and without emotion, he said.
"After this does not mean because of this," Smith said, using the analogy of a rooster crowing and the sun rising – the second thing wasn't caused by the first. Smith said a witness, Michale Graves, would testify for the defense during the trial to say that Nordean was not planning to storm the Capitol that afternoon because Graves, a member of a band called The Misfits, was supposed to meet Nordean at an AirBnB in D.C. to listen to music the afternoon of Jan. 6.aid his client was being used as a scapegoat by the government.
Questioning of prospective jurors extended for 10 days, as lawyers probed their awareness of the far-right group and whether they had any bias about the Proud Boys. In the end, the judge seated a jury of seven men and nine women, including four alternates. One juror already has been dismissed after contracting covid.
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