Proud Boy Charles Donohoe (34) from North Carolina is cooperating with the American justice system, in the hope of getting a lighter sentence: a minimum of six years instead of a minimum of eight years.
In December 2020, Donohoe was appointed by the president of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, to the “Department of Self-Defense,” a group tasked with preparing to storm the Capitol. “Donohoe believed that by storming the Capitol, the group would achieve its goal and prevent the government from handing over presidential power,” the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement co-signed by Donohoe.
Initially, Donohoe did not want to come to Washington on January 6. But on January 4, Chairman Tarrio was arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter flag that he had stolen from a church. Donohoe decided to travel to the American capital after all because he fears a ‘leadership vacuum’. He led a group of two to three hundred Proud Boys storming the Capitol.
Donohoe is the second member of the Proud Boys to cooperate with law enforcement. He could face six years in prison. Others, including foreman Tarrio, deny that they are guilty of obstructing the peaceful transfer of presidential power.