U.S. starts dropping Jan. 6 obstruction charge against Proud Boys, others

On Jul 16, 2024

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Federal prosecutors have begun moving to drop charges accusing Jan. 6 defendants of obstructing Congress’s confirmation of the 2020 presidential election results, offering new plea deals after the Supreme Court last month restricted the government’s use of that count, according to court filings.

Some beneficiaries include members of the extremist Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who are not accused of other felony offenses, but whose leaders were convicted of conspiring to use force to oppose the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Those whose charges may be dropped are among a small core group of Capitol riot defendants who prosecutors alleged understood why Congress was meeting and who came not to protest but to block lawmakers from acting.

One such defendant is Arthur Jackman, a Proud Boys member from Florida who was photographed with leaders of the group convicted of seditious conspiracy for helping instigate the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Jackman, however, was not charged as a plotter and has been offered a deal to plead guilty to one or more pending misdemeanor offenses such as trespassing or disorderly conduct, according to court filings Monday.

Other Proud Boys associates among Jackman’s co-defendants could face trial or admit to other pending felony counts such as rioting, destruction of property, or assaulting police, prosecutors said in their filings.

Separately last week, Kellye SoRelle, an attorney for the Oath Keepers and a former girlfriend of its leader, Stewart Rhodes, agreed to plead guilty next month to what are expected to be charges excluding the obstruction count, based on filings by the government and her defense.

Defense attorneys for Jackman and SoRelle and a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.

Prosecutors are responding to the Supreme Court’s June 28 decision that the Justice Department cannot broadly apply a federal statute that makes it a crime to corruptly obstruct or impede an official proceeding to Congress’s election certification session. The court ruled that the law applied only to impairing or destroying evidence such as records or documents.

As many as 259 Jan. 6 defendants who were convicted or awaiting trial on the count may seek to vacate their convictions, sentences or plea deals, although most of them might not benefit much because they are convicted of other felonies. In a statement, the Justice Department said only 57 of about 133 people have been convicted and sentenced on that charge and no other felony, of whom are 17 still behind bars who could benefit from a reduced sentence. That is less than 2 percent of more than 1,400 charges Jan. 6 cases.

However, about another 126 defendants await trial or sentencing on the obstruction count — including a sizable minority who face no other felony counts, according to Justice Department data. They include otherwise nonviolent individuals who came to the Capitol with groups whose leaders notoriously planned for violence, or who are accused of more egregious conduct — such as occupying the Senate chamber, raiding lawmakers’ offices and desks, or targeting government officials. Nearly…