During the assault on the Capitol, five people died (including a police officer).

Photo: Jose Luis Magana/ AP.

Four members of the American extremist group Proud Boys (including its former leader Enrique Tarrio) were convicted of the crime of seditious conspiracy for the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The sentences could reach 20 years in prison.

The four were accused of participating in a plot to attack the Capitol in Washington whose objective was to keep former President Trump in power at all costs.

Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys, who has been detained since March 2022, was found guilty of seditious conspiracy.

He was also convicted of attempting to obstruct law enforcement, Congressional certification of Biden, and two counts of conspiracy.

The other convicts were Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl.

The jury is still out on the guilt of a fifth member, Dominic Pezzola.

The conviction is a milestone for the Justice Department, which has successfully convicted defendants from two extremist groups.

More than 500 people have pleaded guilty to charges related to the riots at the Capitol.

In addition, another 80 have been convicted during the trials.

Among them the founder of Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and several of the members of that group.

The Department of Justice launched one of the largest investigations in US history.

They filed criminal charges against more than 1,000 people involved in the events of January 6.

Although Tarrio was not in Washington that day (he was arrested on January 4 for burning a Black Lives Matter banner in a church), prosecutors have shown that he organized and directed the assault.

(With information from France 24)