WASHINGTON — U.S. prosecutors amped up charges against five members of the right-wing extremist group the Proud Boys, adding seditious conspiracy for actions they took in advance of the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Seditious conspiracy charges are the most serious ones the Justice Department has brought in relation to efforts to stop the election certification, amounting to an alleged attack on the country. They carry a potential 20-year prison sentence.
The members “conspired to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote, and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States,” according to a superseding indictment from a federal grand jury released Monday by the Justice Department.
The members, including former Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, were previously charged by the Justice Department with felony offenses associated with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, such as conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
