Judge dismisses Proud Boys Jan. 6 case after DOJ request

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly dismissed the Proud Boys Jan. 6 case with prejudice on July 10 after the Justice Department asked to drop it. Kelly said he had no power to second-guess prosecutors once they chose to abandon the case, making the dismissal permanent and barring the charges from being refiled.

The case centered on seditious conspiracy convictions against Proud Boys leaders, including Enrique Tarrio, and on the violence that erupted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That attack forced Congress to flee for safety and left more than 100 police officers injured. Tarrio was a pivotal driver of the violence, and Dominic Pezzola helped ignite the breach when he smashed a Senate-wing window with a stolen police riot shield.

Donald Trump had already undone much of the punishment in January 2025, his first day back in office, when he pardoned Tarrio and commuted the sentences of Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Pezzola. Tarrio had received a 22-year prison term, the longest sentence tied to the attack, while the others were sentenced to between 10 and 18 years.

The Justice Department moved again on April 14, 2026, after Todd Blanche became acting attorney general, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to vacate the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders’ convictions and permanently dismiss the indictments. The move was in the interests of justice and relied on prosecutorial discretion, and it came as key appeal deadlines were approaching. Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, was also among the defendants whose conviction the department sought to erase.

Jamie Raskin, the House Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, called the move “appalling and dangerous,” arguing that it would wipe away felony convictions tied to Jan. 6. The broader case against the attack has touched nearly 1,600 defendants, including 608 charged with assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement, and about 140 officers were injured during the riot, Justice Department figures.