A Proud Boys leader with New Jersey roots pleaded guilty last week to felony charges for his actions before and during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which were part of a coordinated attempt to stage a coup d’etat to keep former President Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.
Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers on Friday, April 8, 2022.
As part of the plea agreement, Donohoe has agreed to cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation.
The Proud Boys, a far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization that promotes and engages in political violence, instigated and led a mob of Trump-loving terrorists who disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
According to court documents, the Proud Boys describes itself as a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world, aka Western Chauvinists.”
Donohoe joined the Proud Boys in 2018 and became the president of the group’s local chapter in North Carolina. As of Jan. 6, 2021, he was a fourth-degree member, the highest rank within the organization.
In December 2020, according to the court documents, Enrique Tarrio, then the Proud Boys national chairman, formed a new Proud Boys’ chapter known as the “Ministry of Self Defense,” which focused on the planning and execution of national rallies.
The first objective of the Ministry of Self Defense was to plan for actions in relation to the Washington, D.C., rally on Jan. 6, 2021. Donohoe was a leader of this new chapter, which eventually grew to include at least 65 members.
At least as early as Jan. 4, 2021, Donohoe was aware that the Ministry of Self Defense’s leaders were discussing the possibility of storming the Capitol.
Donohoe believed that storming the Capitol would achieve the group’s goal of stopping the government from carrying out the transfer of presidential power and understood from discussions that the Proud Boys would pursue their objective through the use of force and violence.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Donohoe was part of a group of 100 or more Proud Boys who marched away from a rally near the Washington Monument towards the Capitol. Shortly after 12 p.m., the group was assembled two blocks west of the Capitol, and Donohoe understood that other Proud Boys leaders were searching for an opportunity to storm the Capitol.
At approximately 1 p.m., the group arrived at the Capitol and began breaching the barriers surrounding the Capitol grounds. While in the West Plaza of the Capitol, Donohoe threw two water bottles at a line of law enforcement officers who were attempting to prevent the mob’s advance in the West Plaza at the Capitol building.
As events continued, Donohoe joined with a crowd, including other Proud Boys, to push forward to advance up the concrete stairs toward the Capitol. The crowd overwhelmed law enforcement officers on the stairs, continued toward the Capitol, and ultimately entered the Capitol building after Donohoe’s co-defendant, Dominic Pezzola, allegedly broke open a window of the building.
Hours later, Donohoe posted messages to the Ministry of Self Defense Leadership Group celebrating the group’s actions that day.
Donohoe was arrested on March 11, 2021, and he has been detained since his arrest. He is among six defendants – including Tarrio and Pezzola – indicted in the District of Columbia on conspiracy and other charges; the others have pleaded not guilty.
Donohoe faces up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and up to eight years in prison on the charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. Both charges also carry potential financial penalties. No sentencing date was set. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Donohoe was in the U.S. Marines from 2006 to 2010, serving two tours in Iraq. After that, he worked as a contractor for the U.S. Department of State. He also worked as a contractor for a company formerly known as Blackwater and then twice renamed as Xe and then Academi. In 2007, a group of its employees killed 17 civilians and injured 20 people in Nisour, Baghdad in Iraq. Four guards were convicted but Trump pardoned them in December 2020.
During his time with Blackwater, he was stationed in remote bases in Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to court papers, he provided civilian defense and disrupted Taliban operations.
Born in the Garden State
Donohoe was born in Long Branch, N.J., and moved with his mother and his brother Liam to North Carolina when he was 3. His mother, Stuart Picket, lives in East Bend, and his grandparents, Charles and Jacklyn Donohoe, live in Winston-Salem.
Donohoe has a total of five siblings, and all but two live in North Carolina.
He also has a 4-year-old son from a previous relationship and he has dated Stephanie Burnette since July 2018, according to court documents.
In the 15 months since Jan. 6, 2021, nearly 800 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
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