The Founder of Cowboys for Trump is Going to Jail. Could the Founders of Vets for Trump and Latinos for Trump be Next?

     The January 6th Committee tripled its base after its first hearing last night. Its YouTube channel went from just under 4,000 subscribers to just under 11,000 in less than 24 hours. The meeting was viewed tens of millions of times across the world on television, YouTube, and various other platforms. All this occurred with a pretty dramatic backdrop: that day, Ryan D. Kelley, a gubernatorial candidate in Michigan, was arrested on four misdemeanor charges carrying a combined maximum penalty of three years in prison for his role in the January 6th insurrection; more serious charges are still on the table. Also that day, a D.C. chiropractor and author named David Walls-Kaufman, who assaulted one of the Capitol police officers who committed suicide after January 6th, was arrested.

     Just days earlier, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants (Dominic Pezzola, Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, and Joseph Biggs) were charged with seditious conspiracy after having previously been detained for conspiracy, obstruction, assault, and other felonies. A sixth man, Charles Donohoe, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. With the previous indictment of 11 Oath Keepers (including founder and leader Stewart Rhodes) in January and a 12th in May (three of whom have pleaded guilty), this brings the total number of people indicted for seditious conspiracy to 17.

     This is the most consequential indictment made to date for the January 6th insurrection. However, it is not unexpected. Last month, a video was released showing an underground meeting between the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers in a parking garage in Washington, D.C. on the night of January 5th, 2021. Nearly everyone in that video has now been indicted on the most serious charges that could possibly be brought in this case. Two notable exceptions share a lot in common: they both founded pro-Trump organizations, they were both involved in planning January 6th, and they both, obviously, have close ties to the White House. Joshua Macias, the founder of Vets for Trump, spoke on January 6th, and Bianca Gracia, the president of Latinos for Trump, were both there on that fateful night.

     One notable pro-Trump activist has already faced justice. Otero County, New Mexico, commissioner Couy Griffin, who founded Cowboys for Trump, was convicted in March of a single misdemeanor count in a bench trial after showing up in a horse trailer (having cancelled plans to ride up to the courthouse on horseback). He had been arrested in January in D.C. just before President Biden's inauguration after promising to return with weapons. He faces up to a year in prison when he is sentenced later this month.

     With the conviction and upcoming sentencing of Couy Griffin and the indictment of 17 Oath Keepers and Proud Boys on seditious conspiracy charges, it is becoming clear that both Joshua Macias and Bianca Gracia have very likely exposed themselves to criminal liability, potentially as serious as that Rhodes, Tarrio, Pezzola, and the rest have found themselves in. This is the closest to the White House criminal investigations into the January 6th insurrection have come in nearly a year and a half. On a similar note, two people who were not in that parking garage but were on Capitol grounds that day were Alex Jones of Infowars, who spoke on January 6th, and Ali Alexander, who organized the event and was a primary architect of the "Stop the Steal" movement. Both stood literally inches from Owen Shroyer, who faces misdemeanor charges for his involvement in the January 6th insurrection. It's time to put these two men behind bars.