One of the leaders of the ultra group Proud Boys pleads guilty to conspiracy to storm the Capitol

Assailants of the Capitol, in Washington, on January 6, 2021. Jose Luis Magana (AP)

The criminal proceedings against those accused of the assault on the Capitol on January 6 continue their course and tighten the siege on the far-right group Proud Boys (Proud Boys).

One of his ringleaders, Charles Donohoe, 34, pleaded guilty this Friday to two crimes related to the attack on Congress and has agreed to testify against his accused cronies in order to reduce his sentence.

Donohoe has admitted to charges of conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings and assault on members of the security forces, which could get him a minimum of six years in prison.

That January 6, hordes of protesters in favor of then President Donald Trump violently stormed the Capitol in order to torpedo the confirmation of the electoral victory of Democrat Joe Biden, a procedure that is being carried out, as indicated by the rules, in a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Five people died and up to 140 police officers were injured in the siege, which forced the current president to ratify at dawn the following day.

The Proud Boys, a regular group in Trump protests, played a leading role in that bloody day.

He is the first accused of the six leaders of the group who assumes responsibility for him in organizing the attack and aggression against the agents and the second who agrees to collaborate with justice.

This same week, the top ringleader, Enrique Tarrio, pleaded not guilty to the crimes of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and five other charges.

Tarrio did not intervene directly in the protest that day, nor in the assault, because he had been arrested by the police in Washington two days earlier.

Others, however, have confessed.

On Wednesday, another member of the group named Jeffrey Finley, president of the West Virginia branch, admitted to cooperating in lobbying police outside the Capitol that day and trespassing, but he refused to cooperate.

According to the charging document, Donohoe, a North Carolina citizen, was a member of the “Ministry of Self-Defense,” a subgroup within the Proud Boys that was preparing the performance for Biden's confirmation.

And that day he was aware that the purpose of the demonstration was to boycott the certification of the results of the November presidential elections.

In total, more than 700 people have been arrested for the assault.

Parallel to these trials and proceedings, a special committee, in the style of the one created by 9/11, is investigating Trump's role in instigating the assault on Capitol Hill.

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