Two Florida members of the Proud Boys organization have pleaded guilty to felony charges for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach.
Tom Vournas, of Bradenton, admitted to assaulting police officers with a dangerous weapon, causing injury, while Leonard Lobianco, of North Port, pleaded guilty to civil disorder.
Both men were part of the Proud Boys’ “Zone 5” chapter in southwest Florida and traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the events of that day.
Read: Four Men From Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, And Virginia Sentenced On J6 Charges
Court documents reveal their active role in the Capitol attack: they joined a march toward the Capitol where leaders incited the crowd, participated in the violent breach of police barricades, and entered the Capitol building while Congress was in session. Vournas even used pepper gel on an officer, causing harm.
According to the Department of Justice, on the morning of January 6th, Vournas, and Lobianco met a group of approximately one hundred Proud Boys members near the Washington Monument at about 10:00 a.m. Shortly after, the leaders of the large group of Proud Boys marched the group away from the rally that was taking place near the Washington Monument.
One of the leaders of the march announced to the group that they were going to march to the Capitol. As the group marched toward the Capitol, the leaders of the march addressed the group, which included Vournas and Lobianco, through a megaphone—telling them that the police and government had failed them. Vournas, Lobianco, and members of Zone 5 had broken away and would rejoin the larger group of Proud Boys minutes after the breach at the Peace Circle.
Read: U.S. Supreme Court Narrows The Obstruction Charges Against J6 Capitol Rioters And Trump
The Proud Boys arrived at the Peace Circle, at the edge of the restricted portion of Capitol grounds, at approximately 12:50 p.m. Upon arriving, leaders of the organization led the crowd in chants that included “USA!” “Where’s Antifa”, and “Whose Capitol? Our Capitol!”
At 12:53 p.m., approximately one minute after the “Whose Capitol? Our Capitol!” chant, the crowd surged towards a police barricade. Members of this crowd, including the Proud Boys, violently trampled the metal barriers, moved the barriers aside, and surged past officers to advance toward the Capitol.
As the Proud Boys breached Peace Circle, members of Zone 5 made their way toward the Capitol. At approximately 12:57 p.m., within minutes of breaching the police line at the Peace Circle, Vournas, Lobianco, and several other rioters and members of the Proud Boys moved together onto the restricted grounds of the Capitol, past the downed barricades, and toward northwest stairs of the West Terrace of the Capitol. For the next hour, police struggled to contain the mob while certain members of the Proud Boys assaulted and engaged with police.
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Court documents say that Vournas sprayed pepper gel, a dangerous weapon, twice toward a line of police officers, hitting a United States Capitol Police (USCP) officer in the face and causing bodily injury. About the same time, Lobianco, two to three rows deep in the crowd, pushed other rioters in front of him into the police line. The police line collapsed, and the mob, including Vournas and Lobianco, surged up the Northwest Stairs towards the Senate Wing Door.
Within 20 minutes, rioters, including Vournas and Lobianco, joined the first group of rioters to enter the Capitol—while Congress was still in session. Specifically, at approximately 2:14 p.m., Vournas and Lobianco entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door. Vournas carried the pepper gel that he had used to assault the USCP officer. Once inside, Vournas proceeded deeper into the Capitol and encountered a line of police officers. Inside the Crypt, Vournas and Lobianco took pictures together before leaving through the Senate Wing Door at approximately 2:25 p.m.
The FBI arrested the two men on Jan. 4, 2024, in Florida.
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