Proud Boys member ‘Spaz’ who lit up cigar for a ‘victory smoke’ after breaking into Capitol with a riot shield is jailed for 10 years
- Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola has been sentenced to 10 years in jail over his part in the Capitol riots
- He was the only one of the group not to be convicted of seditious conspiracy
- Pezzola, known as ‘Spaz’, was previously convicted of resisting arrest, robbery of a police shield and destruction of government property
A Proud Boys member who lit up a cigar for a ‘victory smoke’ after breaking into the Capitol with a riot shield has been jailed for 10 years.
Dominic Pezzola, known as ‘Spaz’, was convicted of a raft of charges, including assaulting or resisting a police officer, robbery of a police shield, destruction of government property and obstructing an official proceeding for his part in the January 6, 2021, riot.
He was accused of leading the Proud Boys in the attack as one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol by using a police shield to break a window, according to a prosecution court filing which cited social media posts.
Prosecutors said Pezzola smashed a window which allowed the MAGA mob to storm the building.
Dominic Pezzola was seen on video smashing a window to enter the Capitol on January 6 using a riot shield
Pezzola (pictured) was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol
A witness said Pezzola had talked about killing Vice President Mike Pence
His sentence on Friday is the third to have been handed to members of the far-right this week.
Their case is one of the most serious brought in the unprecedented attack, which unfolded on January 6, 2021.
Pezzola was the only one of the group of five Proud Boys not to be convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were found guilty of seditious conspiracy over the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
The jury in Washington D.C. could not reach a verdict against Pezzola, with the others facing a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Pezzola, of Rochester, owns a business called D Pezzola Flooring.
Videos show Pezzola, a Marine Corps veteran, using a riot shield to break windows and enter the capitol.
‘Victory smoke in the Capitol, boys. This is f**king awesome. I knew we could take this motherf**ker over [if we] just tried hard enough,’ Pezzola said, according to a criminal complaint.
The witness also said that Pezzola ‘bragged about breaking the windows to the Capitol and entering the building.’
Court documents show Pezzola bragged about breaking the window
Prosecutors charged with Pezzola with destruction of government property for breaking the window
Pezzola has now been sentenced to 10 years in prison
A witness told the FBI that Pezzola talked about killing Vice President Mike Pence ‘if given the chance.’
Pezzola was also pictured wearing the Proud Boys logo at a MAGA rally on December 12 in Washington, D.C. which resulted in four stabbings.
The rioters that stormed the U.S. Capitol were just 100 feet from the officer where Pence and his family were hiding.
It took 14 minutes to evacuate Pence from the Senate Chamber after the MAGA mob first broke into the building, video footage showed.
Secret Service agents eventually managed to convince the VP to leave and rushed him and his family into an office before they were taken to a second secure location.
Less than 60 seconds after Pence was taken to his hideaway, a violent crowd followed a Capitol officer up a flight of stairs – just 33 yards from the office but away from the chamber where many lawmakers still remained.
Prosecutors say the groups were intent on keeping Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House at all costs.
Pezzola pictured marching in support of Trump in Washington, DC, on December 12,