A year and a half after the violent storming of the US Capitol, the former leader and four members of the far-right group Proud Boys have been charged with conspiring to overthrow. The suspects must appear in federal court in Washington D.C. beginning in August. responsible, as can be seen from the indictment published on Monday.

According to federal prosecutors, they were connected to a concerted attack on the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, aimed at preventing Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory. At the time, the Proud Boys conspired to use force to oppose the lawful handover of presidential duties, it said.

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the group’s former leader, was not in Washington on the day supporters of defeated ex-President Donald Trump stormed the seat of Congress. But investigators assume that he fueled the violence at the time.

Two days before the Capitol was stormed, Tarrio was caught in Washington with gun magazines and arrested. He was also involved in the burning of a banner with the slogan “Black Lives Matter” in front of a church mostly attended by black people in December 2020. Tarrio was released in mid-January after serving a five-month prison sentence in this case.

Tarrio and the four co-defendants Proud Boys had previously been charged with multiple counts of conspiracy in connection with the storming of the Capitol. Members of the group describe themselves as a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists”.

Their supporters often got involved in street brawls with Antifa groups on the fringes of protests. Since the storming of the Capitol, investigators have stepped up their crackdown on the Proud Boys and similar extremist groups.