A federal judge is allowing a major January 6 conspiracy case against four Proud Boys leaders to move forward, rejecting their bid to throw out the charges.
Summary
- (CNN) A federal judge is allowing a major January 6 conspiracy case against four Proud Boys leaders to move forward, rejecting their bid to throw out the charges.
- The judge also rejected the defendants’ claims that the riot could have been a protected First Amendment demonstration.
- “No matter Defendants political motivations or any political message they wished to express, this alleged conduct is simply not protected by the First Amendment,” Kelly wrote.
- “Defendants are not, as they argue, charged with anything like burning flags, wearing black armbands, or participating in mere sit-ins or protests,” Kelly added.
- “Moreover, even if the charged conduct had some expressive aspect, it lost whatever First Amendment protection it may have had.”