At least six members of the Proud Boys, a group of right-wing nationalist "Western chauvinists," have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 violent siege of the U.S. Capitol. Among those charged is Joseph Biggs, a Proud Boy leader who led about 100 men from former President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally to the Capitol. Prosecutors and federal investigators are now trying to determine how closely the Proud Boys communicated during the siege and whether they planned the incursion in advance, The New York Times reports. Investigators have recently turned their attention to two Proud Boy organizers on the West Coast, Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Washington, and Eddie Block from Madera, California, the Times reports, citing a federal law enforcement official. Nordean, also called Rufio Panman, has not been charged, and Block, who live-streamed the insurrection, told the Times that federal agents seized his electronic equipment on Friday. Investigator are a
The leadership of the Proud Boys has come under increased scrutiny as agents and prosecutors across the country try to determine how closely members of the far-right nationalist group communicated during the riot at the Capitol this month and to what extent they might have planned the assault in advance, according to federal law enforcement officials.
Pentagon tied D.C. National Guard general s hands before Capitol siege
Lots of things went wrong with law enforcement before and during the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump, and one of them was the long delay in deployment of National Guard reinforcements. Those failures were the focus of a closed-door hearing Tuesday before the House Appropriations Committee, and among those who testified was Maj. Gen. William Walker, commander of the D.C. National Guard. Walker told
The Washington Post on Tuesday that the Pentagon had tied his hands.
Wisconsin pharmacist will plead guilty to COVID-19 vaccine sabotage
Steven Brandenburg, the Wisconsin pharmacist accused of intentionally sabotaging hundreds of doses of Moderna s COVID-19 vaccine, will plead guilty to two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death and bodily injury, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. Each count carries up to 10 years in prison. After his arrest, police called Brandenburg, 46, an admitted conspiracy theorist, and his federal plea agreement bolsters that label.
Brandenburg had told his coworkers about his beliefs in conspiracy theories and alternative history for at least two years, his plea deal says, and he had let it be known he was a skeptic of the Moderna vaccine specifically, and vaccines in general. On the nights of Dec. 24 and 25, he left two batches of the vaccine out of refrigeration for several hours, and the spoiled vacci