Florida Proud Boy Sentenced to 10 Years in Capitol Attack

A Proud Boy from Florida who went on the lam after being convicted of using pepper spray on police officers during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison.

The Proud Boy, Christopher Worrell, was found guilty at a bench trial in Federal District Court in Washington in May on charges of assault, civil disorder and the obstruction of an official proceeding for his role in the Capitol attack. Prosecutors said that Mr. Worrell, 52, arrived in Washington on Jan. 6 “ready for battle” and wearing body armor, and with other members of the far-right organization “played a pivotal role in collapsing the police line on the west front, leading to the first breach of the Capitol building.”

The Proud Boys, who have long been some of former President Donald J. Trump’s most vocal and violent supporters, were at the forefront of the violence on Jan. 6, pushing through barricades and encouraging others in the mob to attack the police and storm the Capitol, where lawmakers had gathered to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Dozens of members of the group were investigated by the F.B.I., and many either pleaded guilty or were brought to trial in Washington. Four of them, including the Proud Boys’ former chairman, Enrique Tarrio, were convicted last spring on charges of seditious conspiracy.

Prosecutors said that Mr. Worrell, a member of the “Hurricane Coast” chapter of the Proud Boys, started to encourage a violent response to Mr. Trump’s loss in the election well before Jan. 6. On the encrypted app Telegram, he wrote his fellow Proud Boys messages saying things like “Resist Like It’s 1776” and “Remember George Washington attacked and saved the Union on Christmas Eve.”

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