Who is Zachary Rehl, former Philadelphia Proud Boys’ president?

Proud Boy Zachary Rehl was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday after being accused of being a part of the mob that led to the infamous January 6 riots in 2021.

The riots were an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. While being given the verdict, the former Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter president seemed regretful of the fact that he let politics consume his life, which caused him to “lose track of who and what mattered most.”

He called January 6 insurrection a “despicable day.”

“I’m done with politics, done with peddling lies for other people who don’t care about me,” Rehl said. He seemed emotional as he took breaks from speaking to wipe his tears and catch his breath. 

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Rehl’s sentence is just half of the 33-year sentence prosecutors requested. “This was 15 years below guidelines and 15 years below what the government requested,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said, expressing disbelief. “I wonder if I will ever sentence someone to 15 years below the guidelines (again) in my career.” 

Who is Zachary Rehl?

Zachary Rehl had called for “firing squads” for “traitors” who wanted to “steal” the 2020 election from former President Donald Trump. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy earlier this year alongside three other members and allies of his group.

They were accused by prosecutors of unleashing “a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force” to “undo the results of a democratic election.”

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Judge Kelly also determined that Rehl committed perjury during the trial by denying assaulting anyone when video evidence showed him using a chemical spray against police at the Capitol riots. His sentence is the highest one against defendants connected to the attack so far.

“They turned that vigilantism from antifa to law enforcement and the government itself,” Kelly sais while describing the act pulled by the Proud Boys. “Mr. Rehl embraced that vigilantism, and he eventually used it to try to impose his vision of America by force.”