'He said our name!' Jury in Proud Boys sedition trial hears new evidence on group's loyalty to Trump

“For nearly a month, the trial has been plodding along in Federal District Court, often getting bogged down in arcane arguments about what sorts of evidence can be offered to the jury,” the Times reported. “The government’s presentation so far has managed to demonstrate that the far-right group had a culture of violence that emerged at pro-Trump rallies in Washington before the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“But in its first few weeks, it has only glancingly advanced the central allegation in the case: that the men conspired to use force after the 2020 election to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power.”

That changed this week, however, with the introduction of a video meeting from December 30, 2020, between the group’s former leader, Enrique Tarrio, and four of his subordinates, the report stated. And there was this:

“The jury also delved into a huge trove of as many as a half-million Telegram messages exchanged by the defendants and other Proud Boys, most of them written in group chats bearing names like Skull and Bones, Ministry of Self-Defense Leaders and OG Pickleback Crew.”

Among the takeaways from the new evidence cited by the Times was confirmation that the Proud Boys were stunned and delighted when Trump made his famous shout-out during a September 2020 presidential debate. That’s when he told the Proud Boys “to stand back and stand by.”

The jury heard evidence as to what that looked like on the receiving end.

“The immediate reaction among those in the “Official Presidents Chat” was wide-eyed elation,” the Times reported.

“HE SAID OUR NAME!!!” wrote one Proud Boy member. Minutes later, another wrote: “My phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”

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