Quick Facts
Biography
Jeremy Bertino (born 1979 or 1980) is an American former member of the Proud Boys who testified against Enrique Tarrio during his trial for seditious conspiracy. Bertino was the first Proud Boys member to plead guilty to the same charge.
Early life
Bertino was born 1979 or 1980. As an adult, he was found guilty of reckless endangerment in 2004 and briefly was jailed in New York State and sentenced to five years of probation. He later lived in Belmont, North Carolina.
Involvement in Proud Boys
Bertino joined the Proud Boys in 2018 and was briefly (2.5 months) the Vice President of a local South Carolina chapter. As a Proud Boys member, he did a media interview in 2021.
Bertino did not attend the January 6, 2021 insurrection due to a stabbing injury that he received on December 12, 2020 at a rally in Washington, D.C., supporting Donald Trump; on that day, Bertino, along with other Proud Boys and far-right activists, attacked the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. He used digital communications to support the insurrectionists on January 6.
At his criminal trial after the insurrection, Bertino pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and later agreed to be a witness against other members of the Proud Boys. He also pleaded guilty to unlawfully being a felon in possession of a firearm. after two AR-15 style rifles, two pistols, a shotgun, and a rifle were confiscated from his home by the FBI. At the time of his plea, he was the first Proud Boys member to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy. While testifying against Proud Boys members, including group leader Enrique Tarrio, Bertino stated that efforts to overthrow the U.S. government on January 6 failed due to the intervention of Capitol Police.
In May 2023, Bertino spoke of his regret about wearing a Right Wing Death Squad patch, the same patch worn by Mauricio Garcia, the perpetrator of the 2023 Allen, Texas outlet mall shooting who killed eight people.
In June, 2023, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz imposed civil penalties of over $1 million on Bertino and three others, Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs and John Turano in connection with the 2020 attack on the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. Kravitz said that the four men had engaged in "hateful and overtly racist conduct"
