Two More Proud Boys Go On The Insurrection Chopping Block as Brien James Moves In On The Orgs Leadership

Charles Donohoe of North Carolina and (FINALLY!) Zach Rehl of Philadelphia were seen in photos all over the place on Jan. 6. Brien James was not there however, and why doesn’t seem so curious anymore.

Zach Rehl, the president of the Philadelphia, PA chapter of the Proud Boys and Charles Donohoe, a Proud Boy leader based out of Winston-Salem, NC were arrested Wednesday by federal authorities on charges they were coordinators of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol the Proud Boys and other neo-fascist groups participated in.

The next day in response to the arrests, Brien James the longtime neo-Nazi who is the head of the Proud Boys Indiana Chapter and the founder of the neo-fascist American Guard, took to Telegram to defend the two and warn against a federal informant within its ranks – presumably Proud Boy leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who was outed as such several weeks ago and has been an object of scorn for James.

According to news reports, Rehl, 35, was picked up by agents in his home in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia on Wednesday. Agents from the FBI office in Charlotte, NC arrested Donohoe in the Winston-Salem suburb of Kernersville at the same time and he had an initial appearance on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem with appearance scheduled for Friday to determine if he should remain in custody. Rehl is expected to have his first hearing in federal court in Philadelphia also on Friday. The charges against them remained unsealed as of Wednesday evening, but sources familiar with the investigation have noted they were indicted along with on conspiracy charges that also implicated previously charged Joe Biggs and Ethan Nordean, both also Proud Boy leaders.

Rehl was identified in pictures outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 coordinating alongside Biggs and Nordean, but it became increasingly frustrating how he was not arrested or even identified in the media for those following the developments early on. It was not until after he was identified in a photo of him and others inside the US Capitol published by the New Yorker that many took to social media sounding the proverbial alarm. Rehl and Dick Schwetz of the Leihigh Valley (PA) Proud Boys attempted to suggest Rehl was not in Washington, DC on Jan. 6 but in Harrisburg, PA that day, but those efforts proved to be laughable rather quickly.

On Thursday, Brien James defended Rehl and Donohoe as “two more good men” who were arrested, and while he did not mention Enrique Tarrio by name seemed to continue the campaign he has been waging against him for several weeks. “If you had a guy who was proven federal informant and now people around him were going to jail right and left what would you say?” he wrote on Telegram. “Some of them were his closest friends. Some of them he personally placed into the positions that later brought them down. Would you say that this guy is most likely still an informant?”

James, who was not in Washington, DC on Jan. 6 and led his chapter and several others in breaking away from the Proud Boy national leadership after Tarrio was revealed in February to have been a federal informant several years ago, then issued what looked to be a direct challenge to him. “Ill(sic) be the one to butt heads with the motherfucker,” he wrote. “If his handlers wanna come pick someone up… let it be me. I’m the one best suited to endure it. I’ve been through it before. Most of you haven’t. My kids are grown. Some of these men going to jail can’t say that. They are the best this country has to offer…being robbed of life and liberty by a grifting snitch. I give zero fucks. I’m gonna take this motherfucker head on.”

According to a Twitter thread there has specifically been a close relationship with the North Carolina Proud Boys chapter Donohoe runs and the American Guard, and James rallied with the Philadelphia Proud Boys in September.

PSA Fayetteville NC

Reintroducing ex-USMC Charles “Yutyut” Donohoe (Forsyth Co), North Carolina Proud Boy chapter president.

In 2019, there was noteworthy crossover betwn NC PB membership & NC American Guard membership. Unknown if Donohoe is AG.https://t.co/OuODzUiQvT pic.twitter.com/cv6gEXvFGP

— M (@m1523751) August 28, 2020

Had to walk through a Trump rally to get an anti-racist counter demo and Proud Boy Charles Donohoe followed me the whole way through.

You can see other Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino at the end. He sells Right Wing Death Squad tshirts and frequently threatens to murder leftists. pic.twitter.com/LQcnG9LXQW

— Lindsay Ayling (@AylingLindsay) November 8, 2020

15/ Now it would appear as if the proud boys, Gavin McGinnes, Enrique Tarrio.. (even Brian James gets shade here), are in relatively full meltdown.

Gavin talks in detail about how there’s no room for informants in his group full of informants #POYB

H/t @MarkitoResists

FAIR USE pic.twitter.com/B7gIKhxYle

— 🏴🏴 Karma Is a Mirror™️ Antifascist Archivist (@AntifascistF12) February 23, 2021

A total of thirteen Proud Boy members have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection.