The Ormond Beach man described as an organizer for the far-right nationalist group the Proud Boys now faces additional charges for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, accused of helping plot and lead the attack, court records show.
In a recently filed indictment, Joe Biggs is charged along with three other Proud Boys leaders with helping plan and carry out the riot at the U.S. Capitol aimed at interfering with the certification of the Electoral College vote to confirm President Joe Biden’s victory in November’s election.
Federal prosecutors allege the four men did “knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and other[s] … to commit offenses against the United States,” working since November on their plan to “impede the official proceeding and interfere with law enforcement.”
Biggs, 37, was already arrested in January for participating in the riot, but the new charges against him focus on his alleged leadership role in the attack, which sent members of Congress scrambling for safety as the Capitol was ransacked by pro-Trump extremists. The riot left at least 5 dead, including a Capitol Police officer.
Biggs faces the new charges along with three other Proud Boys leaders, Ethan Nordean, known as “Rufio Panman,” from Auburn, Wash.; Zachary Rehl, of Philadelphia; and Charles Donohoe, from Kenersville, N.C.
All four men are accused of helping plan and prepare for the insurrection, encouraging other Proud Boys members to travel to D.C., helping raise funds for travel expenses and obtaining “paramilitary gear and supplies — including tactical vests, protective equipment and radio equipment,” the indictment said.
The grand jury indictment said the men planned to evade law enforcement by dressing incognito, and also used radios and encrypted messaging applications to “communicate and coordinate” the attack.
The charging document cites many messages the men posted, both on social media and in encrypted messaging platforms, from as early as November through the day of the attack.
“[I]f you feel bad for the police, you are part of the problem. … BACK THE BLACK AND YELLOW,” Nordean allegedly posted on the day of the riot, an apparent reference to the colors Proud Boys members typically wear but authorities say they deliberately avoided donning Jan. 6.
On Nov. 5, Biggs posted on social media that it was “time for [expletive] war if they steal this [expletive],” the indictment said. In another instance in late November, he responded to a social media post calling for unity: “No b—-,” he said, according to the indictment, “this is war.”
On Jan. 4, Donohoe became concerned law enforcement would review an encrypted messaging channel involving many of the extremist group’s leadership, so he attempted to destroy that channel and created a new one, which included Biggs and other members, the indictment said.
He later messaged that channel and others that “everything is compromised and we can be looking at gang charges,” instructing everyone to “stop everything immediately.”
Later, a new channel was created for those on the ground in D.C., in which Biggs messaged Jan. 5 — the night before the attempted insurrection — that he was “trying to get our numbers. So we can plan accordingly for tonight and go over tomorrow’s plan.”
Someone else posted in the group a time to meet Jan. 6 morning, explaining that “details will be laid out at the pre meeting” and reminding the group that “cops are the primary threat, don’t get caught by them or BLM,” seeming to reference the Black Lives Matter movement.
Later that night, Biggs posted that they had finished a meeting and “info should be coming out,” later clarifying that “we have a plan,” the indictment said.
The next morning, many members of the Proud Boys — including Biggs and the three other men charged — met about 10 a.m. near the Washington Monument, and then moved in a group toward the Capitol.
Nordean and Biggs “carried and used a bullhorn to direct the group,” and later Biggs led the crowd in a series of chants before he and a group “charged toward the Capitol by crossing over the barriers that had been violently disassembled and trampled,” the indictment said.
Biggs and the three others were among the first group of people who “forcibly breached the barriers” at the capital, trampling and pushing past police officers, the indictment said. Biggs entered the Capitol through a window broken by another Proud Boys member, but later left the building.
The indictment said he came back about 30 minutes later and re-entered through a different entrance “pushing past at least one law enforcement officer” with a group of people affiliated with the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia group whose members have also been charged for their role organizing the attack on the Capitol.
Biggs — along with Nordean, Rehl and Donohoe — have been charged with federal crimes of conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, destruction of government property, entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a restricted building.
Biggs had been previously arrested on charges of obstructing an official proceeding before Congress, knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority and illegally entering Congress to disrupt official business.
After his January arrest in Central Florida on those crimes, two misdemeanors and one felony, federal prosecutors consented to allowing him to be released from custody under certain restrictions, including house arrest and possessing firearms.
But federal prosecutors on Saturday requested that Biggs’ pretrial release be reconsidered, arguing the new, more-serious charges are reason for his detention, court records show. Prosecutors also filed a similar motion for Nordean to be held in custody.
“The government’s investigation has uncovered evidence of his leadership role in an organized and violent attack upon this county’s democracy and its Capitol,” the motion said. “… This new evidence makes clear that there is no condition or combination of conditions, including home confinement, that could reasonably assure the appearance of the Defendant as required and, more importantly, the safety of the community.”
Biggs attorney, J. Daniel Hull, declined to comment on the case. A hearing is set for Tuesday in D.C.
gtoohey@orlandosentinel.com
