- November 28, 2024
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A Volusia County ex-Proud Boys leader was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol aimed to prevent the certification by U.S. Congress of the 2020 presidential election.
Joseph Biggs, who was arrested in an unincorporated area of the county near Ormond Beach, was convicted by a Washington D.C. jury, along with three others, for a series of felonies for his actions before and during the breach of the Capitol, according to a news release from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. These include seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and destruction of government property.
During the attacks, Biggs was among those seen leading the charge, according to the news release. He posed with other Proud Boys members for a celebratory video in which he said "January 6 will be a day in infamy."
The next day, he told members of the Ministry of Self-Defense that he was "proud as f--- what we accomplished." He also recorded a podcast-style interview, the news release states, in which he called the Jan. 6, 2021, attack a "warning shot” to the government that showed them “how weak they truly are” after being “b----slapped ... on their own home turf.” He went on to say on the podcast that “Jan. 7th was warning shot to the government — look, we started this country this way and we’ll f------ save it this way.”
The 39-year-old was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release after serving his time in prison. Fellow former Proud Boys leader Zachary Rehl, 38, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Biggs' sentence is the second longest among the Capitol riot cases. Stewart Rhodes, founder of a far-right group called Oath Keepers, was sentenced in May to 18 years in prison the Capitol breach, according to NPR.
