Federal Judge Throws Out Sedition Charges Against Proud Boys Following Trump Pardon Directive

A U.S. federal court has dismissed the seditious‑conspiracy charges against four Proud Boys members implicated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol assault.

On Friday, Judge Timothy J. Kelly, appointed by former President Donald Trump, granted the government’s motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, barring any future revival.

Nevertheless, Kelly stressed that the defendants — Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — had been found guilty of serious offenses.

In his seven‑page ruling, he explained that the decision rested on the separation of powers rather than on the substantive merits of the case.

“As the Court has noted repeatedly, the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol was a grave incident — an attack on individuals, including numerous police officers who suffered injuries,” Kelly wrote.

“It also struck at the constitutional mechanism that ensures the peaceful transfer of presidential power,” he added.

Inside the January 6 riot

Friday’s ruling marks another step in Trump’s campaign to halt prosecutions of the January 6 rioters.

The Capitol assault occurred shortly after Trump’s 2020 reelection loss to Democrat Joe Biden, and in its wake he repeatedly asserted, without evidence, that the election had been stolen.

January 6, 2021 was the date set for Congress to certify the Electoral College results, which would have confirmed Trump’s defeat.

At the time, Vice President Mike Pence performed the ceremonial duty of overseeing the certification, although Trump allegedly pressured him behind the scenes to reject the outcome.

At midday Trump delivered a “Save America” rally outside the White House, telling supporters he had won “by a landslide.”

“If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election,” Trump said at one juncture; elsewhere he warned, “If you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country left.”

Following the rally, a subset of supporters marched to the Capitol, breached the building, assaulted police officers and inflicted millions of dollars in damage. Their intent was to halt the certification, evidenced by chants such as “Hang Mike Pence.”

The violence turned deadly. A rioter was shot by police while climbing through a broken window to reach the House Speaker’s lobby. One officer succumbed to a stroke the next day after being beaten. Additional fatalities occurred by suicide in the aftermath, and lawmakers were evacuated to safety.

During the Biden administration, the Department of Justice filed criminal charges against roughly 1,600 individuals implicated in the riot.

Trump, however, has consistently defended the rioters, labeling their prosecution a “national injustice.”

Trump himself was later indicted on both state and federal charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the election; those counts were dismissed after his 2024 reelection.

Unravelling the prosecutions

Characterizing the January 6 prosecutions as governmental “weaponization,” Trump ran on a 2024 campaign pledge to pardon the rioters.

He fulfilled that promise on the first day of his second term. On January 20, 2025 Trump signed an executive order granting “a full, complete and unconditional pardon” to most of those charged in the Capitol attack.

He also commuted the sentences of fourteen individuals, among them Nordean, Biggs, Rehl and Pezzola, and directed the Department of Justice to pursue dismissal of the remaining January 6 cases.

Judge Kelly referenced these developments in his Friday ruling, albeit with a hint of skepticism.

“No one should interpret the Court’s approval of the government’s motion as endorsement of those decisions,” Kelly wrote.

In May 2023 a Washington, D.C. jury convicted Nordean, Biggs and Rehl of seditious conspiracy and related charges, together with Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio.

Pezzola was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on multiple felony counts, including assaulting a police officer. At sentencing the four defendants received prison terms between ten and eighteen years, with Pezzola receiving the shortest term.

When considering the future of the case against the four men, Kelly remarked that it was “hard to envision” any alternative to dismissal.

Kelly noted that the judiciary cannot compel the executive branch to prosecute, and Trump’s executive order likewise obligated the Justice Department to seek dismissal of the case.

“The Court will grant the motion because there is no basis to deny the government leave to dismiss the case with prejudice,” Kelly concluded.

He closed his ruling with a caution about safeguarding American democracy from future assaults.

“Looking ahead, if the United States’ experiment in self‑government is to endure another 250 years, Americans of all persuasions must unite to preserve, protect and defend that experiment through our constitutional system,” Kelly wrote.

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