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Salon
Salon
Politics
Amanda Marcotte

Why the Proud Boys' sentences matter

At the sentencing hearings for the five Proud Boys convicted for some of the most serious crimes related to the January 6 insurrection, the crocodile tears were flowing. Perhaps hoping for mercy from the Donald Trump-appointed federal judge, Timothy Kelly, one member of the neo-fascist gang after another claimed to have seen the error of their ways and promised to walk a better path from here on out. 

Dominic Pezzola, who had joined the group only weeks before the January 6 attack, declared himself "a changed and humbled man" ready to return to a quiet life as an apolitical father and partner to his girlfriend. Joseph Biggs, who was functionally second in command of the Proud Boys on the day of the riot, claimed, "I was seduced by the crowd" before claiming that he's "so sorry." Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio claimed to be "profusely sorry" and called the cops he sicced his gang on "heroes." 

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