Two Florida men who are members of the "Proud Boys" have entered guilty pleas to felony charges linked to their actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Tom Vournas of Bradenton, and Leonard Lobianco of North Port, admitted to charges of assault and civil disorder, respectively, the Department of Justice announced.
The two men, part of the "Zone 5" chapter of the Proud Boys in southwest Florida, traveled to Washington, D.C., and met with their group near the Washington Monument on the day of the riot, Vournas pleaded guilty today to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon and causing bodily injury while Lobianco's plea on Monday, acknowledged his role in civil disorder, the breaching of the Capitol grounds followed a march from a nearby rally where leaders voiced their discontent toward the police and government. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth is scheduled to sentence Vournas on January 17, 2025, and Lobianco on January 28, 2025.
Documents filed in court describe how the men, alongside other Proud Boys, violently pushed through police barricades to access the Capitol grounds at Peace Circle, chanting provocations and claims of ownership over the Capitol; it was at this point Vournas utilized pepper gel against Capitol Police, while Lobianco aided the breach by pushing forward into the police line, leading to the mob's surge up the Northwest Stairs and toward the Senate Wing Doors where Congress was still in session.
Once they breached the Capitol, Vournas and Lobianco entered through the Senate Wing Door, taking pictures in the Crypt before exiting around 2:25 p.m., Vournas carried the same pepper gel he had previously used in a confrontation with officers, after being apprehended on January 4, they faced charges brought forth by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia with help from the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section and the Middle District of Florida, with the investigation being conducted by the FBI's Tampa and Washington Field Offices alongside the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Since the Capitol breach, over 1,504 individuals from nearly all 50 states have been charged with related crimes, with over 560 facing charges for assaulting or impeding law enforcement; investigations into these events are ongoing.
