WASHINGTON, D.C. – An Ormond Beach senior member of the Proud Boys was mentioned more than 40 times in the final report issued by the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Joseph Biggs was arrested at his Ormond Beach home 18 days after the Jan. 6 incident.
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He has pleaded not guilty.
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Jury selection continues in his trial, where he is charged with other members of the Proud Boys, including former national leader Enrique Tarrio, with seditious conspiracy.
The final Jan. 6 report claimed Biggs and other members of the Proud Boys started planning an attack on the U.S. Capitol even before President Trump’s tweet on Dec. 19, 2020, where he called on his supporters to meet in Washington.
“As the presidential votes were tallied, the Proud Boys became agitated at the prospect that President Trump would lose,” the report read. “On Nov. 5, 2020, Biggs posted on social media, ‘It’s time for f****** war if they steal this s***.’ As former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory became apparent, Proud Boys leaders directed their ire toward others in the Government. Biggs, speaking on a Proud Boys livestream show with Tarrio and others, warned that government officials are ‘evil scum, and they all deserve to die a traitor’s death.’”
The report claimed Biggs was a senior member of the Proud Boys and served as an event organizer.
It also claimed Biggs previously worked with Alex Jones and InfoWars.
In late December, 2020, the report claimed Biggs posted on the social media platform Parler where it explained the Proud Boys would not be attending the rally in Washington wearing their traditional branded clothing.
“We will be blending in as one of you. You won’t see us. You’ll even think we are you . . . We are going to smell like you, move like you, and look like you. The only thing we’ll do that’s us is think like us! Jan 6th is gonna be epic.”
Once inside the Capitol, the report claimed Biggs helped lead a chant of “1776.”
“At approximately 12:51 p.m., Quested captured a rioter named Ryan Samsel with his arm around Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs, who led the chants,” the report read. “Samsel subsequently claimed that Biggs encouraged him to push through the barricades and, when Samsel hesitated to follow through, Biggs ‘flashed a gun, questioned his manhood and repeated his demand’ to move to the front and ‘challenge the police.’ Biggs has contested Samsel’s version of events.”
“At 2:14 p.m., Biggs walked through the Senate wing door and moved north,” the report continued. “Part of his route was captured in videos posted on Parler, a rightwing social media site. Someone recorded the Proud Boys leader shortly after he entered the Capitol and asked him, ‘Hey Biggs what do you gotta say?’ Smiling, Biggs replied: ‘this is awesome!’”
The report indicated other members of the Proud Boys were with him, including the husband of an Orange County sheriff’s deputy, Arthur Jackman.
“Another Proud Boy from Florida, Arthur Jackman, was seen with his hand on Biggs’s right shoulder,” the report read. “Jackman ‘became involved in the Proud Boys to support Donald Trump,’ was in Washington on Jan. 6th ‘to support President Trump and to stop the steal’ and ‘believe(d) the election was stolen.’”
Jackman was also arrested.
He faces charges with another group of suspected Proud Boys members that includes for former police officer from Windermere, Kevin Tuck, and his son, a former Apopka police officer, Nathaniel Tuck.
Read the full Jan. 6 Subcommittee Final Report here.
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