Former Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs sobs during sentencing as he's given 17 YEARS in prison over January 6 after begging court not to separate him from his daughter and cancer-stricken mom
Biggs' sentence is one of the harshest handed out in Capitol riot cases, only behind the 18-year sentence for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes
By Germania Rodriguez Poleo
Daily Mail
Aug 31, 20223
'I wanted to see what would happen... My curiosity got the best of me,' said Biggs (seen in mugshot). 'I’m not a terrorist… I’m one of the nicest people in the world'
Former Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs sobbed as he was sentenced to 17 years in prison over his role in the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and Enrique Tarrio were all found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a Washington D.C. jury after they broke into the Capitol following the 2020 election.
During his sentencing on Thursday, Biggs' lawyers argued he did not assault anyone as they asked for leniency.
Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer, but said he is 'not a violent person and I proved that' and was 'seduced by the crowd.'
Waring an orange prison jumpsuit, he pleaded with the judge, saying he wanted to take his daughter to school and be there for his sick mother.
Former Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs sobbed as he was sentenced to 17 years in prison over his role in the January 6 , 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol
'I know that I have to be punished and I understand,' he said, according to CNN, but added, 'please give me the chance, I beg you, to take my daughter to school and pick her up.'
'I wanted to see what would happen... My curiosity got the best of me,' he claimed. 'I’m not a terrorist… I’m one of the nicest people in the world.'
Judge Timothy Kelly wasn't having it, as he said Americans are the envy of the world and U.S. elections must be respected, telling Biggs: 'You did play a role in riling up the crowd.'
'If you don’t like how an election is being conducted ..you can speak out, call, write or meet with election officials. You can engage in peaceful protest. File a lawsuit.'
The judge ruled that Biggs qualified for a terrorism sentencing enhancement because he teared down a fence that stood between police and rioters.
Former Proud Boys chairman Tarrio, who faces up to 33 years in prison, was supposed to be sentenced on Wednesday but the hearing was suspended after the judge became ill.
Tarrio led the neo-fascist group - known for street fights with left-wing activists - when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by' during his first debate with Joe Biden.
Bigg's sentence is one of the harshest handed out in Capitol riot cases, only behind the 18-year sentence for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.
Prosecutors had asked for 33 years for Biggs, arguing he was a 'vocal leader and influential proponent of the group’s shift toward political violence.'
The judge ruled that Biggs (left) was qualified for a terrorism sentencing enhancement because he teared down of a fence that stood between police and rioters
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio (pictured with Joseph Biggs) has also been found guilty of seditious conspiracy over January 6 riot in 2021
Biggs is a veteran who sustained a head injury while deployed in Iraq, and worked for Alex Jones' conspiracy website Infowars.
Prosecutors argued the Proud Boys were at the front lines of the mob on Capitol grounds and were there when the first barriers were breached.
During the trial, the court heard that hundreds of messages were exchanged between the group leading up to the riot.
The group saw Biden and other left-leaning politicians as a threat to the country and spoke about needing 'war,' 'revolution,' and firing squads for traitors.
Ahead of the riot, Biggs told followers of his on the social media app Parler to dress in black to resemble the far-left Antifa movement, the affidavit said.
Biggs appeared to be wearing a walkie-talkie during the storming of the Capitol, but he told FBI agents that he had no knowledge about the planning of the destructive riot and didn't know who organized it.
Prior to the riot he had organized a 2019 rally in Portland, Oregon, in which more than 1,000 far-right protesters and anti-fascist counter-demonstrators faced off.
In the clip he posted, Biggs is wearing the same black and white American flag face mask as in the video that caught him in the Capitol.
The footage begins with rioters clambering through a window into the federal building and chanting 'Whose house? Our house.'
Biggs claimed the only reason he went inside the building was because he 'wanted to take a piss'. When asked why he told other rioters in the video that being inside the Capitol was 'awesome', Biggs said he meant 'awe-inspiring', but also 'awful'
The woman filming shouts '1776 motherf***ers' - a reference to the American Revolutionary War.
She turns to Biggs, dressed in a grey checked shirt and black beanie, and shouts 'Biggs what you got to say?'
Biggs briefly pulls up his grey US flag bandanna to cover his face, then pulls it down and grins, replying 'this is awesome' before storming forward into the building.
In an interview with DailyMail.com, Biggs claimed the only reason he went inside the building was because he 'wanted to take a piss.'
'The entire time I was in there I felt bad, I didn't want to be there. I didn't touch anything, I didn't break anything, I didn't steal anything. There was no ill intent other than I really needed a f***ing piss,' he said.
'I went to the bathroom, washed my hands and found another cop and asked him 'how the hell do I get out of here?' He showed me the way out. I left and stayed outside. That's the only thing I did.'
When asked why he told other rioters in the video that being inside the Capitol was 'awesome', Biggs said he meant 'awe-inspiring', but also 'awful'.
The right-wing organization leader told DailyMail.com at the time that he had contacted the FBI of his own accord after the riots and scheduled a meeting with agents in Florida.
'I'm going to turn myself in. I've got nothing to hide. At the most they could get me for trespassing,' he said.
During the month long trial, prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him.
Attorneys argued that members of the group were prepared to go to war to keep their preferred leader in power.
Defense lawyers denied there was any plot to attack the Capitol or stop Congress' certification of Biden's win.
The investigation has become the largest for the Justice Department in American history, and it hadn't tried a seditious conspiracy case in over a decade.
The riots followed months of false claims by Trump and his allies that the election had been rigged against him.
A select House committee investigated the riots and in its final report accused Trump of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The committee estimated that from the election to Jan. 6, the president and aides made hundreds of efforts to pressure officials to overturn the results.
Targets included states he lost but that had GOP-led legislatures such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona.
Tarrio wrote 'Do what must be done' on social media as they swarmed the Capitol, and when asked what they should do next, he replied: 'Do it again'
Prosecutors argued the Proud Boys were at the front lines of the mob on Capitol grounds and were there when the first barriers were breached
One of the bombshell revelations was that key witness, former White House aid Cassidy Hutchinson told investigators that she felt pressure from Trump's circle to stay silent.
According to her testimony, a former Trump White House ethics lawyer told her that 'the less you remember, the better.'
Trump has since been indicted for this role in the riots, with a grand jury indictment accusing him of spreading 'lies' and 'sham' investigations while stoking an 'angry' mob on January 6.
Special Counsel Jack Smith said in a televised public statement following the release of the indictment that the attack on the Capitol was 'fueled by lies' made by Trump 'targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the U.S. government - the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.' He pledged that his office will conduct a 'speedy' trial.
Trump is facing four counts including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and obstruct the electoral count for trying to overturn the 2020 election. The 45-page indictment says he was 'determined to remain in power' despite 'having lost.'
He and his six co-conspirators 'used knowingly false claims of election fraud' to try to 'subvert the legitimate election results and change electoral votes' to take down Joe Biden, according to the indictment.
He has plead not guilty.
Oath Keepers' Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years
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