SouthernWorldwide.com – A federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump has definitively ended the January 6th prosecution of four members of the Proud Boys, stating that the U.S. Constitution offered him no alternative.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly reluctantly approved the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the case with prejudice against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. This decision followed an earlier ruling by a federal appeals court that had already overturned their convictions.
In a seven-page written opinion, Judge Kelly explained that long-standing principles of the separation of powers dictate that decisions regarding prosecution fall under the purview of the executive branch. Consequently, he lacked the authority to compel the Justice Department to continue pursuing charges it had chosen to drop.
Kelly stated, “Because the decisions to issue the Executive Order and to abandon this prosecution—even after the Government secured convictions for serious crimes relating to the attack on the Capitol on January 6—are solely the Executive’s, no one should mistake the Court’s granting of the Government’s motion for its agreement with those decisions.”
Dominic Pezzola, who had been convicted of assaulting police officers, robbery, and destroying government property, was found guilty of stealing a Capitol Police riot shield. He then used the shield to break a Capitol window, which prosecutors identified as the initial point of entry for hundreds of rioters. While acquitted of seditious conspiracy, Pezzola was convicted on several other felony charges.
Meanwhile, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl had been convicted of seditious conspiracy and multiple other felonies connected to the January 6th Capitol attack. These convictions included conspiracy to obstruct Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, and destruction of government property.
The Justice Department had initially filed a motion in April to vacate the convictions and dismiss the case against the four men. They argued that doing so was “in the interests of justice,” particularly in light of President Donald Trump’s executive order issued on January 20, 2025. This order commuted their sentences and granted full pardons to former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio and numerous other January 6th defendants.
The D.C. Circuit Court had already nullified the men’s convictions before sending the case back to Judge Kelly’s court to consider the Justice Department’s dismissal request. Kelly noted, “There is little mystery about why the Government is moving to dismiss this case, or whether dismissal is in fact what the Executive seeks.” He added that President Trump’s views on the prosecution of those involved in the Capitol attack are widely known, as is his intention to offer clemency.
Judge Kelly referenced established legal precedents that affirm charging decisions as the responsibility of the executive branch. He emphasized that judges cannot reject a dismissal simply because they disagree with the government’s rationale.
Given that the convictions had already been vacated and prosecutors possess broad discretion in deciding whether to pursue criminal charges, Kelly concluded that he did not have the authority to compel the Justice Department to continue the prosecution.
“Indeed, it is hard to see how any course other than granting the motion in full could make practical sense. Denying the motion would not somehow revive the convictions that the Court of Appeals vacated,” Kelly wrote. He further elaborated that denying the motion would not lead to a retrial because the court lacks the authority to force the executive branch to pursue a prosecution, especially when an executive order explicitly mandates seeking dismissal with prejudice.
Despite his ruling, Judge Kelly strongly condemned the actions of the January 6th rioters, describing the event as an attack on the American people, Congress, and the “Constitution’s mechanism to facilitate the peaceful transfer of power.”
“Moving forward, if this Nation’s experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people—no matter their partisan preferences—will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework,” Kelly stated.
Enrique Tarrio, who also received a pardon for criminal charges related to his involvement in the January 6th riots, expressed his satisfaction with Kelly’s dismissal on the social media platform X.
“We took the worst they threw at us the raids, the solitary, the lies and we stood tall,” Tarrio posted. “Trump dropped the pardons and now the rest is crumbling. Justice is SERVED! Proud Boys don’t lose. We WIN. This is OUR victory. THANK YOU PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP and all of you that fought for us!”
