New Proud Boys indictment adds Syracuse man to US Capitol conspiracy case

The Justice Department has added a third person to a major federal criminal case that accuses members of the Proud Boys of breaking into the US Capitol on January 6, as prosecutors continue to drop breadcrumbs about their larger efforts to investigate key members of the far-right group.

Matthew Greene of Syracuse, New York, is charged with seven crimes related to the insurrection, according to a new indictment made public by the Justice Department on Wednesday. The announcement came minutes after a prosecutor had argued in court that a leader among the Proud Boys, Charles Donohoe, should be held in jail pending trial. At the hearing, the Justice Department added details to what’s known about the group’s movements and discussions during the attack.

Prosecutors say Greene was with two others who pushed past police barriers near the Capitol’s Peace Monument during the siege and the trio took directions from Proud Boys leaders as the group members communicated over radio. After the attack, prosecutors say, Greene sent an encrypted message to a contact, “I’m good, we took the capital.”

The Justice Department announced late Wednesday that Greene had been arrested. It was not immediately clear if he has retained an attorney.

Greene is named for the first time in a newly filed indictment in an existing case against Proud Boys members William Pepe and Dominic Pezzola, whom prosecutors have previously called a “warrior” among the pro-Trump group on January 6.

Prosecutors previously alleged Pepe and Pezzola conspired to interfere with police officers, including by removing metal barricades at the Capitol. Charging documents say Pezzola smashed a window using a police officer’s riot shield. Footage of the attack shows pro-Trump rioters entering the Capitol through the broken window.

The case has fleshed out one aspect of what prosecutors say was a multifaceted and thought-out attack from the extremist group’s members.

In court on Wednesday, Justice Department prosecutors aligned Greene, Pezzola and Pepe closely with a case against leaders of the group, including Donohoe, Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs, who allegedly led a march to overtake the Capitol and gave orders on the group’s efforts.

Prosecutors aim for Proud Boys leaders

The court developments Wednesday were the latest indication that investigators are still rolling out what they’ve learned about the Proud Boys around the Capitol on January 6.

Prosecutor Jason McCullough told a judge, Michael Harvey of the DC district federal magistrate court, at a hearing for Donohoe that members of the Proud Boys continue to pose a risk to public safety because of the revolutionary ideas they espoused around and after the presidential election certification.

The Proud Boys’ words show that “this is a broader ideological struggle, and one in which they in some ways view themselves as carrying out acts of patriotism by taking physical action rather than simply sitting at home and writing words on social media,” McCullough said.

In all, a march toward the Capitol led by Proud Boys leaders gathered more than 40 people, McCullough said. Leaders had prompted followers they knew from their “brotherhood” membership — such as Pezzola, Pepe and Greene — to push past police barriers, the prosecutor alleged.

“When the leaders surge forward, that’s a meaningful push,” McCullough said in court.

Previously, the Justice Department has tied, in various court cases, around two dozen people associated with the Proud Boys to the riot. In some cases, the prosecutors have alleged planning and fundraising beforehand, and have several times described the group’s communications over messaging apps and its use of earpieces and multi-frequency radios during the siege.

It’s still not clear how much in electronic records the Justice Department has pulled in, however. The judge asked Wednesday whether the investigators had been able to obtain messages around the riot that Donohoe, the leader from North Carolina who established group chats, allegedly wanted to have deleted. McCullough said the Justice Department was “not prepared” to divulge that.

Harvey is set to announce on Thursday afternoon whether Donohoe will be held in jail.

Earlier this week, another judge ordered Donohoe’s co-defendants Nordean and Biggs to jail.

That ruling was a major boost to the Justice Department’s attempts to put pressure on alleged Proud Boys conspirators, especially after prosecutors struggled to hold in jail several of the Capitol riot defendants whom they deemed to be most threatening if released.

All the Proud Boy associates who have been indicted and appeared in Washington’s court already have pleaded not guilty.

This story has been updated with further details.