THE TIGHTENING NOOSE:

Tarrio and his fellow self-described "western chauvinists" believed a Democratic Biden presidency would threaten the group's very existence, therefore they engaged in seditious conspiracy, headed a mob that forced its way into the Capitol and tried to drive a stake through "the heart of our democracy", prosecutor Jason McCullough contended.

Tarrio and his four co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to their alleged roles in the attack, which has been linked to nine deaths, including the suicides of law enforcement officers who protected the Capitol and were left traumatized. An attorney for Rehl, Carmen Hernandez, has insisted that her client went to the nation's capital on 6 January not to riot but to exercise his free speech rights in protest of Trump's loss to Biden.

Meanwhile, an attorney representing Tarrio, Sabino Jauregui, argued that his client and the others were simply on trial because "it's too hard to blame Trump," whose full-throated defense to any prosecution would be mounted by an "army of lawyers".

"It's easier to blame ... the Proud Boys," Jauregui added, saying his client and his fellow co-defendants were mere "scapegoats".

Similar arguments have been made before by others among the nearly 950 people who have been criminally charged with having participated in the Capitol riot, including about 540 who have been convicted. Those hefty numbers notably do not include Trump, though the former president has been recommended for prosecution by a congressional committee which investigated the attack.

Just days ago, a judge ruled that a woman who helped attack the Capitol was indeed merely following orders from Trump, who fired up his supporters with false claims that he had been robbed of victory over Biden by electoral fraudsters.

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