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2 Proud Boys members charged with conspiracy related to pro-Trump Capitol riot

30 January 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Two members of the Proud Boys, a far-right political organization, were indicted Friday on federal charges for conspiring to obstruct law enforcement from protecting the U.S. Capitol during the pro-Trump siege on Jan. 6, the Department of Justice announced.

The state of play: Dominic Pezzola, 43, and William Pepe, 31, removed temporary metal barricades erected by the Capitol Police to control access to the Capitol, and stole property belonging to Capitol Police officers, per the indictment.

  • The indictment filed in federal court in the District of Columbia also includes charges of civil disorder, unlawfully entering restricted buildings or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted buildings or grounds.
  • The charges further allege that Pezzola confronted a Capitol Police officer, stole the officer's riot shield and used it to smash a Capitol window.
  • Pezzola was charged with "obstruction of an official proceeding; additional counts of civil disorder and aiding and abetting civil disorder ... assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; destruction of government property; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted buildings or grounds."

The big picture: Pepe and Pezzola were initially charged in a criminal complaint and arrested on Jan. 12 and 15, respectively.

  • The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason McCullough and Erik Kenerson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and Taryn Meeks of the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.