Proud Boys leaders seek US$100 million over Jan. 6 prosecutions

FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo rioters break into the Capitol in Washington. Far-right media personality Tim Gionet, who calls himself "Baked Alaska," will not face house arrest after being charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after court officials raised concerns about his recent encounters with police officers in Arizona. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Four leaders of the Proud Boys who were pardoned after being found guilty of trying to keep U.S. President Donald Trump in power on Jan. 6, 2021 after he lost the election to Joe Biden filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking US$100 million from the government.

“The Plaintiffs bring this suit to seek redress for the multiple violations of their constitutional rights,” the document read.

The lawsuit was filed in Florida by Henry ‘Enrique’ Tarrio, the former chairman of the far-right group, and Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Ethan Nordean, who all played leadership roles, plus Dominic Pezzola.

Tarrio was convicted of crimes including seditious conspiracy for his role in planning the Capitol riot that sought to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s election defeat of Trump in 2020. He was ordered to serve 22 years in prison.

Biggs, Rehl and Nordean all played leadership roles in the Proud Boys and were tried alongside Tarrio for seditious conspiracy and other crimes.

Pezzola was accused of assaulting former Capitol Police Officer Mark Ode by stealing his riot shield and using it to smash a window at the Capitol.

All four also received jail terms.

On the first day of his return office in 2025, Trump issued a sweeping clemency order, granting pardons to almost all of the more than 1,500 defendants who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and issuing sentence commutations to 14 others.

Costas Pitas, Reuters