whitney wild. what case did prosecutors lay out in opening statements today? there are several main arguments. one is that the leaders of the far right extremist group the proud boys planned for the january 6 attack, they recruited others to join them, and prosecutors said ultimately they were willing to use any means necessary including force to stop joe biden from becoming president. prosecutors said that there was a reason for this. it was because there was a lot of concern within the organization that if biden were elected that would mean the end of the proud boys. they also made the argument that after former president trump told them to, quote, stand back and stand by, the battle lines were drawn. how much evidence is there the defendants not only participated in the attack but also had been planning to violently stop the transfer of power? reporter: quite a bit of the evidence prosecutors have been pointing to includes messages sent within this group. in addition they were
force to stop joe biden from becoming president. prosecutors said that there was a reason for this. it was because there was a lot of concern within the organization that if biden were elected, that would mean the end of the proud boys. and they also made the argument that after former president trump told them to, quote, stand back and stand by, the battle lines were drawn. how much evidence is there that the defense that only participated in the attack but also have been planning to violently attempt to stop the transfer of power? quite a bit of evidence that prosecutors have been pointing to include messages that were sent within this group in addition, they were pointing to just the overwhelming amount of video, some of that video captures the very moment that one of these defendants broke through the window, ultimately becoming the first rider to actually make way inside, so the evidence that they are continuing to point to is really overwhelming. as we know, this capital riot
remember the proud boys, and now, even in modern discussions in the last couple of, weeks months, and years, it s in part because of the history of violence. i m gonna show the screenshot here of when it was established in 2016. i mean, the idea of the unite the right rally, we must. in the idea of 2017, members clashing outside of it of and why you. get people arrested in new york city and then they had the role in january six as well. i m gonna show people dozens are facing, you, no criminal charges with the right beyond that as well. we ve got people who are communicating with the proud boys, it seems. and you have the infamous, karen, stand back and stand by. i mean people remember the proud boys. not not in connection with making friendship bracelets. no, absolutely not. and, particularly given the footage that we ve seen over the last several weeks of the, summer when we saw footage from january six. i, mean it s right there in front of you. so, it s surprising that, again, fre
keepers would then be there to support that militia. trump never invoked the insurrection act, but sent plenty of other bat signals to this government vigilante groups. he had the idea of voting the insurrection act at other points in his presidency, and you ll remember, this is the same man who told the proud boys, another far-right extremist group linked to january 6th to quote, stand back and stand by. that s after he was asked on a debate stage to condemn them. and then on january six, right before his supporters descended on the capitol, donald trump said this. we fight like hell and if you do not fight like hell, you will not have a country anymore. now if you thought the multiple investigations bearing down on him including the series of damning hearings from the january six committee or the actual, realtime prosecution of his supporters for their actions on that day where prompted the former
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