A leader of the Proud Boys who led the far-right organization’s infamous march to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was sentenced Wednesday to 17 years in prison – among the longest sentence handed down yet for a convicted rioter.

Joe Biggs was convicted by a Washington, DC jury of several charges including seditious conspiracy for attempting to forcibly prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

The government wanted Biggs to serve 33 years in federal prison. That’s 15 years longer than the longest sentence in a Jan. 6 case to date: the 18-year sentence that went to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, also convicted of seditious conspiracy, after prosecutors sought 25 years in federal prison.

    • ryrybang@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Biggs grew emotional as he talked about his daughter, swearing on her life that he intended Jan. 6 to be his last event with the Proud Boys.

      “I’m done with it. I’m sick and tired of left versus right,” Biggs said. The only group he wants to be affiliated with, he said, is his daughter’s PTA.

      He’s an asshole. And he is sorry; sorry that he got caught. He’s sick of it now, but wasn’t then. He makes no statement about the victims of his violence. He makes no statements about the millions of nameless victims whose votes he wanted overturned.

      Even if he had said he regretted acting on Trump’s lies, it wouldn’t mean a thing. He is just upset he got caught and punished. He’s an asshole.

      • ForgetReddit@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        “I’m sick and tired of left versus right”

        He hasn’t learned a thing. This is not a “left versus right” thing.

        He’s in effect saying: “In the fight between democracy and justice versus fascism and tyranny, I simply want to say both sides are bad and go to my daughter’s PTA meetings to force my backwards views on children.”

        Here’s hoping he can be reformed but if not, rot in prison dickhead.

      • spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Fun fact: some of these dinks are going back on their regret statements, claiming they were a strategy to avoid heavy fines or jail or some such. What they don’t know is that this claim then opens them to re-prosecution for the same offenses they may have been acquitted of 😏

      • Hairyblue@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        “…the last event with the Proud Boys” Joe B.

        This statement seems odd to me. Like he was doing something bad and so far hasn’t got caught. Anyone know what he ment by that?

        I hope once or if, Trump is in jail Trump loses his influence over his cult. Trump has used and discarded so many people. In Trump’s world only Trump matters.

        • ryrybang@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Right? It’s like the career criminal doing one more robbery. They tell themselves it’ll be the last time they do it because they know it’s wrong. Except it’s not the last time. They’ll do another later on and call that one the last time. And again and again.