In the days and hours before the jury finally brought back a verdict in the Proud Boys trial, there was a dour mood in much of the coverage. Journalists worked overtime to lower expectations that these particular insurrectionists would taste real justice for what they did on January 6. The initial word was that the jury returned a "partial verdict." The prevailing assumption was that some of the lower-ranking of the five Proud Boys on trial may be convicted of lesser crimes involving the violence of the Capitol riot, but that the jury would balk at some of the more serious charges, such as seditious conspiracy. Audiences were especially warned that Enrique Tarrio, the then-leader of the Proud Boys, might get off scot-free, as he had not been at the Capitol that day.
Then the opposite happened.
