Judge rejects Proud Boys’ bid to have Capitol riot charges thrown out

Earlier this month, another judge in the District of Columbia’s federal court upheld prosecutors’ use of the same obstruction charge in a separate case against two riot defendants

Proud Boys members Joseph Biggs, left, and Ethan Nordean were leading figures among the mob that stormed the Capitol building. Picture: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File

A federal judge refused to dismiss an indictment charging four alleged leaders of the far-right Proud Boys with conspiring to attack the US Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

US district judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday rejected defence attorneys’ arguments that the four men: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Charles Donohoe; are charged with conduct that is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech.