WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal prosecutor claims an Ormond Beach man took aim at “the heart of our democracy” when he entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Those comments came during opening statements on Thursday in the seditious conspiracy trial of Joseph Biggs.
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Biggs – a prominent member of the Proud Boys – was one of the first Central Florida residents to be arrested after Jan. 6, 2021.
He is standing trial with four other members of the group, including former national leader Enrique Tarrio.
Prosecutors said the far-right extremists plotted to keep Joe Biden out of the White House after he beat then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Biggs’ lawyers deny there was such a plot.
Their trial comes after the seditious conspiracy convictions of two leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers group – Kelly Meggs, of Dunnellon, and leader Elmer Stewart Rhodes.
If convicted, Biggs faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Biggs was mentioned by name at least 40 times during the hearings conducted by the House Select Subcommittee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
According to court documents, Biggs called for a “revolution.” Federal prosecutors said he also took a video of the crowd during the violence and said, “We’ve taken the Capitol.”
Biggs fought to have his trial moved out of Washington, claiming the jury pool in the nation’s capital was tainted by too much publicity.
A judge denied his repeated requests.
On Sunday, Biggs’ co-counsel Norman A. Pattis filed an emergency motion asking the judge in the case to continue to allow him to represent Biggs.
According to the motion, his law license in his home state had been suspended.
“At the close of business on Jan. 5, 2023, he learned that a judge of the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut had issued an order suspending me from the practice of law for six months,” the motion read. “The order took effect upon publication. He is therefore suspended from the practice of law in Connecticut for a period of six months.”
The suspension was in connection with the release of medical records in a case involving Alex Jones and his claims about the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
“He was suspended for disclosing confidential medical records to other lawyers working on related matters for our joint client, Alex Jones,” he continued. “One of those lawyers inadvertently sent the records to an opponent in a case involving Mr. Jones in Texas. No one who received the records actually looked at them.”
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