“A week before the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, top leaders of the Proud Boys convened a video chat to discuss the organization’s plans for Washington that day. And Zach Rehl, president of the group’s Philadelphia chapter, took a leading role in guiding that conversation, federal prosecutors now say.” The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that: “They’d leave their traditional black-and-gold polo shirts at home, equip themselves with encrypted radios, and focus their attentions on riling up “normies” — or unaffiliated supporters of President Donald Trump — they could hide behind.”

“We’re doing a completely different operation,” Rehl allegedly told the others. “There’s gonna be a lot of contingencies and plans that are laid out. There’s gonna be teams that are gonna be put together.” Details of that Dec. 30 video conversation emerged late Thursday in a government court filing that revealed for the first time just how central prosecutors believe Rehl was in directing the Proud Boys’ actions during the deadly insurrection. The excerpts paint Rehl as not only standing beside Biggs and Nordean as they stormed the Capitol building but also as one of a small inner circle selected weeks in advance to help lead the charge. According to the filing, the group’s national president, Enrique Tarrio, chose Rehl, Nordean, Biggs, and two other Proud Boys leaders prosecutors did not name to form a six-man “upper-tier” leadership team to organize for the riot. One member of that group said on the Dec. 30 video call that Rehl spoke with the same authority as Tarrio himself.”