He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings and assault a police officer and could provide vital information to prosecutors about what the organization’s top members had planned for the attack. Donohoe, who led the Proud Boys North Carolina chapter, could face more than seven years in prison after hearing a loud hearing in court and agreeing to pay $ 2,000 in damages for damage to the Capitol. Prosecutors have recently gained momentum in their investigation into the Proud Boys. Prosecutors hacked the phone of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio in March and told the court that there was new evidence that could lead to further charges or arrests in the case. He pleaded guilty Wednesday and regretted looking at Donohoe, Tarrio and others as leaders on Jan. 6, and another Proud Boys member is expected to plead guilty later Friday. Five other alleged Proud Boys leaders – Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Tarrio and Dominic Pezzola – have pleaded not guilty. According to court records, Donohoe assisted in recruiting members and leading the Proud Boys on January 6. Prosecutors say Donohoe was a member of a small national Proud Boys leadership group called the Department of Defense. The group, founded by Tarrio, was intended for “national rally planning” and included “hand-selected members”, according to court documents. Donohoe, Tarrio, Biggs, Nordean and Rehl and others had an encrypted messaging channel called “MOSD Leaders Group”, where they created the plan for January 6th. MOSD leaders called for candidate members, prosecutors say, and stressed that members must “follow the orders of the leadership.” Two days before the uprising, Tarrio was arrested in DC and ordered members to carry out what they had planned for January 6, prosecutors say. Within an hour of Tarrio’s arrest, Donohoe deleted the message from the MOSD Leaders Group and warned others that “everything is in danger” because investigators may be looking for Tarrio’s phone. “Well, at least they’s not going to get our boots on the plan because we’re one step ahead of them,” Donohoe wrote, according to court documents. On January 6, Proud Boys leaders, equipped with radios to communicate, met at the Washington Monument and marched together to the Capitol. He was one of the first to break into the Capitol and Donohoe sent a message that they were “trying” to push inside. A video from January 6 shows Donohoe holding a police riot shield and pushing police and a crowd of people up the Capitol steps. After the mob left the building, Donohoe celebrated, according to court documents, sending a message to other Proud Boys that “We invaded the capital unarmed” and “took it unarmed,” court records say. This story has been updated with additional details.
