WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI informant who marched to the U.S. Capitol with fellow Proud Boys members on Jan. 6 testified on Wednesday that he didn’t know of any plans for the far-right extremist group to invade the building and didn’t think they inspired the violence that day.
The informant, who identified himself in court only as “Aaron,” was a defense witness at the trial of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants charged with seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a plot to keep Donald Trump in the White House after the 2020 presidential election.
The informant was communicating with his FBI handler as the mob of Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, writing in a text message that police barriers were down and the crowd was almost at the building. He also told his handler that the Proud Boys “did not do it, nor inspire.”
“The crowd did as a herd mentality. Not organized,” he wrote. The handler’s response was redacted from a screenshot that a defense attorney showed to jurors.
A prosecutor later suggested that the informant sent that text only after it became clear that he and other members could be in serious trouble. The prosecutor also suggested that the informant wasn’t a mere observer to the riot, showing video that captured him helping another Proud Boy use a podium to block a security gate from closing.