Judge dismisses Proud Boys seditious conspiracy convictions

Left-leaning coverage says U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, appointed by Trump in 2017, granted the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the remaining Proud Boys cases against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola after Trump had already commuted their sentences; NBC adds the key procedural detail that the dismissal was “with prejudice,” “meaning the case is permanently closed,” while the Guardian instead stresses Kelly’s seven-page memo and his warning that Jan. 6 was “an attack on the Constitution’s mechanism” for the peaceful transfer of power. The left outlets also frame the same act with noticeably different language: the Guardian says Kelly “reluctantly agreed” and writes that the request was “not on facts or the law, but on Trump’s desire to excuse the violence of his supporters,” while NBC says he “agreed to toss” the convictions and includes DOJ’s own phrase calling them “these years-long, Biden-era weaponized prosecutions.” NBC carries several facts the Guardian does not: Rehl’s “Finally, it’s ALL OVER!” post, Enrique Tarrio’s “seditious conspiracy hoax” celebration, Tarrio’s “LOVE YA BOSS MAN!” photo caption with Trump, and Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund,” which NBC says a federal judge blocked. The Guardian carries facts NBC does not emphasize, including that the case began “while President Trump was still in power” and Kelly’s extended constitutional language quoting Reagan’s phrase “nothing less than a miracle.” Right-leaning outlets had not covered this as of publication, so their readers would miss not just the dismissal, but also Kelly’s explicit statement that granting DOJ’s motion should not be mistaken for agreement with abandoning the prosecution. What practical legal consequences remain for the four men now that their sentences were already commuted and the cases are permanently closed?