Indictment of alleged Proud Boys leaders over US Capitol attack upheld

On Tuesday, the US district judge Timothy Kelly rejected arguments by defence lawyers that Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Charles Donohoe are charged with conduct that is protected by the first amendment right to free speech.

He said they had multiple nonviolent options to express their opinions about the 2020 presidential election, in which former president Trump lost to Joe Biden.

Federal prosecutors have so far cited the obstruction statute in about 200 cases involving rioters charged by the Department of Justice for their involvement in the attack, supported by recent rulings by Trump-appointed district court judges.

Nordean, Biggs, Rehl and Donohoe, who are jailed while they await a trial scheduled for May, were indicted in March on charges including conspiracy and obstructing an official proceeding.

To date more than 700 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot and at least 165 of them have pleaded guilty.