Federal judge erases Proud Boys sedition convictions after Trump grants clemency to far-right extremists
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U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, appointed by Trump, has thrown out the remaining convictions of four Proud Boys members, citing the lack of legal grounds after President Trump’s controversial pardons and commutations for those involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
In a deeply troubling move for American democracy, a federal judge in Washington has dismissed the remaining seditious-conspiracy convictions of four Proud Boys members, notorious for their far-right extremism and violent attempts to overturn the 2020 election. These men had been found guilty of plotting to disrupt the certification of the election results, yet President Donald Trump’s reckless use of his pardon authority last year erased their prison sentences and undermined the government’s pursuit of justice.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, openly acknowledged the administration’s blatant decision to abandon prosecutions against these extremists. He noted that Trump’s public support for the January 6 attackers and his intent to grant them clemency were never in doubt, further highlighting the dangerous politicization of the justice system.
"President Trump's views about the prosecution of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6 — whether those views are based on fact or fiction — are well known, as is his intention to extend clemency to them," Kelly wrote.
While Judge Kelly claimed his order was not an endorsement of the Department of Justice’s decision to drop the case, he described the Capitol riot as a grave assault on the constitutional principle of a peaceful transfer of power. He warned that the survival of American democracy depends on unity across partisan lines, a message that rings hollow as the far-right continues to evade accountability.
"Moving forward, if this Nation's experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people — no matter their partisan preferences — will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework," Kelly wrote.
The ruling benefits Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola, whose sentences were commuted by Trump but who did not receive full pardons. Meanwhile, former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, who received a full pardon, had previously been sentenced to 22 years—the longest term in any Capitol-riot case. A separate judge has yet to decide whether to dismiss the seditious-conspiracy convictions of the Oath Keepers, another far-right militia group.