Judge agrees to dismiss J6 seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boy leaders

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Afederal judge agreed in a ruling Friday to a Justice Department’s request to dismiss the seditious conspiracy convictions of several Proud Boys leaders related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

The department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in April to vacate the convictions including those of Proud Boy leaders Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who presided over the six-month trial, said he would approve the department’s motion to drop the case with prejudice, which means that no future department can bring the charges back.

“In light of fundamental separation of powers principles … the proper course here is for the Court simply to grant the motion in full,” Kelly wrote. “No one should mistake the Court’s granting of the Government’s motion for its agreement with those decisions.”

The department also asked the court to dismiss convictions for Oath Keeper leaders, but a different judge is still weighing that request, according to Politico.

The order comes after President Donald Trump commuted the sentences of over 1,500 Proud Boys and Oath Keeper members, including some of its leaders, but the motion went further to erase the convictions.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.