Proud Boy Caught After 15 Months, Facing 20+ Yrs For Jan 6 Assault

0
1642

Yet another Florida resident has now joined the list of those arrested for participating in some form in last year’s Trump-inspired attack on the Capitol. Florida man Barry Ramey was arrested on Thursday and was set to make his initial appearance in court on Friday, according to the Justice Department. Ramey is facing serious criminal charges, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon — which appears to come with a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years if found guilty, and that’s not his only charge. The weapon Ramey used seemed like pepper spray, the Justice Department said.

According to a Justice Department press release, Ramey “sprayed two officers in the face and eyes with an orange substance that is consistent with pepper spray. Both officers reported that the spray caused them to become disoriented and have their vision impaired.” Ramey seems to be affiliated with the far-right group called the Proud Boys. According to a court filing from an FBI agent working on Ramey’s case, “Furthermore, according to information FBI Miami obtained from multiple confidential human sources, RAMEY was listed on a master list of Proud Boys members in Southern Florida.”

Numerous individuals affiliated in some fashion with the group were already arrested for various crimes related to the attack on the Capitol last year, and those who’ve been charged even include Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who led the organization at the time of the violence. Tarrio was not present for the riot, but his charges include criminal conspiracy. Recently, North Carolina resident and prominent Proud Boys member Charles Donohoe pleaded guilty to offenses including criminal conspiracy connected to the riot and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, which would entail steps such as providing information. “At least as early as Jan. 4, 2021, Donohoe was aware that the Ministry of Self Defense’s leaders were discussing the possibility of storming the Capitol,” the Justice Department said. “Donohoe understood from discussions that the Proud Boys would pursue their objective through the use of force and violence.”

The so-called Ministry of Self-Defense was a special chapter formed within the Proud Boys by Tarrio that swiftly tasked itself with preparing for actions around the time of the scheduled Congressional certification of the presidential election outcome early last year. Overall, nearly 800 people have been arrested in connection with the violence at the Capitol last year, according to the Justice Department, and more than 250 of them have been specifically accused of assaulting or impeding police officers. Many Capitol riot defendants have opted for plea deals, but three cases have already progressed to a jury trial and since drawn to a close — and in all three instances, the trials ended with convictions on all counts. The recent argument from one defendant that his actions should have been credited to Trump’s influence wasn’t enough to change jury calculations.

Featured Image (edited): via Anthony Crider on Wikimedia Commons, available under a Creative Commons License