A Trump-appointed federal judge has dismissed the Jan. 6 Capitol riot convictions for four leaders of the Proud Boys, stating that the Constitution compelled him to do so. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the case with prejudice against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola on Friday, following a decision by a federal appeals court that had already vacated their convictions.
In a seven-page opinion, Kelly explained that longstanding separation-of-powers principles reserve charging decisions for the executive branch. This means he could not compel the Justice Department to continue a prosecution it had decided to abandon. "Because the decisions to issue the Executive Order and to abandon this prosecution—even after the Government secured convictions for serious crimes relating to the attack on the Capitol on January 6—are solely the Executive's, no one should mistake the Court's granting of the Government's motion for its agreement with those decisions," Kelly wrote.
The Justice Department had moved in April to vacate the convictions and dismiss the case, arguing it was "in the interests of justice." This move was tied to President Donald Trump's executive order, issued before his term ended, commuting sentences and pardoning hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants, including Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio. The D.C. Circuit had already erased the four men's convictions before returning the case to Kelly's courtroom to consider the Justice Department's request for dismissal.
"There is little mystery about why the Government is moving to dismiss this case, or whether dismissal is in fact what the Executive seeks," Kelly stated. "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."
Pezzola was convicted of assaulting police, robbery, and destroying government property, including stealing a Capitol Police riot shield and using it to break a window, which prosecutors described as the initial point of entry for many rioters. He was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but found guilty on other felony counts. Nordean, Biggs, and Rehl were convicted of seditious conspiracy and multiple other felonies, including conspiracy to obstruct Congress's certification of the 2020 presidential election and obstruction of law enforcement.
Despite dismissing the case, Kelly sharply criticized the actions of the Jan. 6 rioters, characterizing the event as an attack on the people, Congress, and the constitutional process for the peaceful transfer of power. "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.
Enrique Tarrio, who also received a pardon for his role in the Jan. 6 events, reacted to the dismissal on X, formerly Twitter. "We took the worst they threw at us the raids, the solitary, the lies and we stood tall," Tarrio wrote. "Trump dropped the pardons and now the rest is crumbling. Justice is SERVED! Proud Boys don't lose. We WIN. This is OUR victory. THANK YOU PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP and all of you that fought for us!"
Judge Kelly's ruling emphasized that denying the motion would not revive the vacated convictions nor compel the executive branch to pursue a retrial, particularly when an executive order explicitly directed dismissal with prejudice. He cited precedent that grants broad authority to prosecutors in charging decisions and limits a judge's ability to override such decisions, even if the judge disagrees with the government's reasoning.