He is best known for stealing a police riot shield and using it to break a Capitol window on January 6, 2021, making him the first rioter to breach the building.

[4] Indicted in 2021, on federal charges, he was tried in 2023 alongside Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and his key lieutenants, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl.

In May 2023, following a five-month jury trial, Pezzola was convicted of obstructing a congressional proceeding, assaulting a police officer, and other crimes.

[10] According to Vice News, in the years before his arrest, many of his Facebook friends reported that he was posting increasingly racist and extremist content, and many of them unfriended him.

"[13] According to federal prosecutors, Pezzola was among a group of about 100 Proud Boys who gathered near the Washington Monument at about 10:00 a.m. on January 6, 2021, led on the scene by Ethan Nordean.

Their alleged plan was to "split up into groups, attempt to break into the Capitol building from as many different points as possible, and prevent the Joint Session of Congress from certifying the Electoral College results.

[10] According to Politico, "Images of Pezzola smashing the Capitol window quickly proliferated after the attack and became a symbol of the brazen assault on Congress, which forced lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to flee for safety.

"[21] On February 25, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson announced that charges of domestic terrorism would be added against Pezzola, describing it as a crime that "is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct," adding "At the entrance to the Capitol itself, Pezzola was not just on the front lines, but first to breach a window so successfully that he and other rioters could enter the Capitol through it".

Pezzola was accused of "encouraging Proud Boys members to attend the January 6 protests, participating in meetings and encrypted conversations in Washington, D.C., to plan the attack, using communications equipment to coordinate the attack as it happened, directing, mobilizing, and leading the crowd onto Capitol grounds and inside the building, dismantling barricades, destroying property and assaulting police.

"[24] In October 2022, Pezzola was among 33 jailed January 6 defendants who signed a petition asking to be transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, claiming that the food and medical care was better there and that prisoners there had more religious freedom.

[28][29] In his testimony, Pezzola first told the jury that he wanted "to take responsibility for my actions on January 6" but later lashed out on cross-examination, downplaying the violence.

[29] Pezzola admitted that he was wearing a hat on which was written "Respect is earned, beatings are free" during the riot.

[32][33] In his tearful plea for leniency to the court, Pezzola said he had given up politics, telling the judge, "Your honor, I stand before you as a changed and humbled man."