Proud Boy who helped ignite Capitol breach tells jury he got "caught up" in Jan. 6 chaos

Dominic Pezzola, the Proud Boy who helped fuel the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6 when he smashed a Senate-wing window with a stolen police riot shield, took the witness stand Tuesday and told jurors he simply got “caught up in all the craziness” that day.

“I’m taking the stand today to take responsibility for my actions on January 6th. I’m also taking the stand to explain how these men over here that I’m indicted with should not be roped into my actions and to also explain how there was no conspiracy — that one never existed,” Pezzola testified.

The Rochester resident who joined the Proud Boys in the weeks after the 2020 election committed one of the most infamous acts on Jan. 6 when he used the riot shield to help trigger the breach of the building. The moment was highlighted in former President Donald Trump’s subsequent impeachment trial and has become a symbol of the chaos that unfolded that day.

Pezzola would subsequently enter the Capitol — arriving at the precise moment that Sen. Chuck Grassley, then the third in line to the presidency, was being evacuated. And he would record a video celebrating the breach of the Capitol that has been a key piece of evidence for prosecutors in the seditious conspiracy trial against Pezzola and four Proud Boys leaders: Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Zachary Rehl.

In addition to seditious conspiracy, the five men are charged with attempting to obstruct Congress’ proceedings that day and aiding in the destruction of government property.

Pezzola used the early portion of his testimony to separate himself from the group’s leadership.

“The craziest damn thing is I never even knew these guys before I met them at the courthouse,” Pezzola said.

Pezzola’s turn on the stand is a climactic moment for the trial, and potentially the last before the four-month-long trial goes to the jury. Prosecutors have portrayed the Proud Boys as a sinister force on Jan. 6, plotting to do whatever they could to disrupt the transfer of power from Trump — who they viewed as an ally — to President Joe Biden. Trump’s call for a “wild” protest in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 was the moment the group’s leaders decided to take measures to help Trump disrupt the incoming Biden presidency, prosecutors have alleged.

The group also took a sharp turn against police in mid-December 2020, when four members of the Proud Boys were stabbed outside a bar following a pro-Trump event and the alleged perpetrator was not apprehended, prosecutors contended.

The case relied heavily on thousands of Telegram messages sent among members of the group describing their intentions and coordinating rallies and protests related to the election results. They also showed ample video of the group’s movements in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6. The government’s key witness in the case, Proud Boy leader Jeremy Bertino, testified that he knew the group’s goal was to derail the transfer of power, even though there were no explicit plans relayed to the group’s broader membership.

The defense has contended that the group’s role has been inflated, that they’re more akin to a drinking club whose members use a lot of hyperbole and overheated language that they didn’t intend to back up.

Pezzola’s testimony — expected to last at least deep into Wednesday — continued in that vein. He said he viewed the Proud Boys as a forum for camaraderie and brotherhood, not a force for violence. He said that on Jan. 6, he never had any inkling of a plan or conspiracy to stop Congress from convening to count electoral votes.

He acknowledged trespassing and crossing police lines at least twice. And he admitted that he shattered “one pane of glass” of the Senate window. But after that, he said, he “wandered around lost with no idea where I was going, took some pictures.”