The charges are arguably the most significant levelled in the 10 weeks since a mob of Donald Trump supporters – seeded with cells of organised extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers – stormed the Capitol, sent politicians and vice-president at the time Mike Pence fleeing for safety and injured more than 100 police officers.

Though a conspiracy indictment against 10 Oath Keepers has been pending for weeks and is expected to add up to five additional defendants, several of them appear to be low-level members who tagged along with organisers.

In contrast, the conspiracy indictment unveiled against the Proud Boys on Friday is aimed squarely at the group’s leadership. Tarrio, who was arrested two days before the January 6 Capitol assault, is facing charges for his alleged role in December violence during a previous rally in support of Trump. But according to prosecutors, Tarrio remained in contact with the other four Proud Boys leaders as they discussed a strategy for rushing the Capitol.

According to the indictment, the four leaders grew alarmed that their encrypted communications could be breached after police arrested Tarrio. So they decided to “nuke” the earlier chat and set up two new channels ahead of January 6: “New MOSD” and “Boots on the Ground,” the latter for the Proud Boys who had assembled in Washington. About 60 people took part in that channel, prosecutors say.

On those channels, the Proud Boys leaders discussed a leadership strategy in Tarrio’s absence, and one person identified as an “unindicted co-conspirator,” indicated that Nordean – who goes by the alias Rufio Panman – had been designated as the group’s leader in Washington.

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World shocked by assault on the US Capitol by radical pro-Trump supporters in Washington

World shocked by assault on the US Capitol by radical pro-Trump supporters in Washington

“Rufio is in charge, cops are the primary threat,” the unindicted co-conspirator told associates on the encrypted channel, per the indictment. “[D]on’t get caught by them or BLM, don’t get drunk until off the street.”

Per the communications provided in the indictment, Rehl then indicated he was bringing Baofeng radios to Washington that would be programmed so Proud Boys could communicate throughout the day. At multiple moments, members of the group’s leadership exhorted their allies to remain “decentralised” or to break into “groups” for their march on the Capitol.

The indictment charges that Nordean, Biggs and Rehl were in the earliest waves to enter the Capitol, following closely behind several other previously identified Proud Boys who breached the building, such as Dominic Pezzola and William Pepe.

Biggs, who had entered through a door near where Pezzola had smashed a window with a police riot shield, left the Capitol early to pose for a picture on the steps, before re-entering through another door along with two other Proud Boys, prosecutors say. He then headed for the Senate chamber.

At 3:38pm, as initial waves of rioters were leaving the building, Donohoe sent an encrypted message to the “Boots on the Ground” channel to indicate, “We are regrouping with a second force.”

In earlier proceedings, Nordean had argued that he had no access to communications that day and that a radio he bought matching the Baofeng style of the other Proud Boys had not arrived at his home until January 7. Prosecutors also pulled back, at the time, from evidence they said showed Nordean directing the Proud Boys strategy to divide into groups to target weakly guarded Capitol doorways. But they reiterate that plan in the new indictment as part of the broader alleged conspiracy.

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