Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 39, of Miami,1 former Florida state director for Latinos for Trump,2 former chairman of the Proud Boys,3 is best known for being associated with the events of J6, though he was not present (see below).
On September 5, 2023, Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison and 36 months of supervised release.4
Tarrio was appointed chairman of the Proud Boys following former member and attourney Jason Lee Van Dyke who held the position briefly following founder Gavin McInnis.5
Mainstream sources and leftist sources typically refer to Tarrio and the Proud Boys as ‘far right’ and so on. The far left, such as Antifa refer to them as fascists, white supremacists and Nazis. My wife and I had a long conversation with Tarrio. He asked us to not record or publish the conversation. But he said that it would be fine for us to paraphrase his political views (which, unsurprisingly, just happen to match with the official views of the Proud Boys6) which are decidedly not alt-right and which welcome
Four members of the Proud Boys were convicted on Thursday of seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
The verdict came after a nearly four-month trial, as the Department of Justice marks over 1,000 charges in connection to the riot, Reuters reports.
Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who is also known to be an FBI informer, along with members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl, were all found guilty of seditious conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The defendants were also found guilty of other charges, including obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to impede Congress from performing its duties.
Prosecutors claimed that the Proud Boys had planned to attack the Capitol to overturn President Joe Biden's election victory, and that they had purchased paramilitary gear for the attack.
Tarrio, who was ordered by a judge to stay out of Washington, DC after being arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter banner at a church, allegedly helped direct the attack from Baltimore. He was not in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021.
The trial of the Proud Boys members was the longest of any arising from the Capitol riot with the 12-member jury in federal court in Washington hearing about 50 days of testimony since January.
More than 500 people have pleaded guilty to charges related to the Capitol riot, and about 80 others have been convicted during trials.
Defense lawyers told the jury that their clients had no plans to attack the Capitol and had traveled to Washington to protest. The defense also sought to blame former President Donald Trump, claiming that he had urged protesters to descend on the Capitol.
"They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald Trump and those in power," said Tarrio's attorney Nayib Hassan during his closing argument to jurors. Tarrio had already previously been charged with conspiracy in the US Capitol riot, with the DOJ saying in a statement that “Tarrio and his co-defendants…conspired to corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, the certification of the Electoral College vote.”
“On Jan. 6, the defendants directed, mobilized, and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol, leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, and assaults on law enforcement,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Court filings show that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had as many as eight informants inside the Proud Boys in the months leading up to the riot.
Lawyers for the Proud Boys argued that the information provided to prosecutors could contradict the government’s allegation that their clients went to Washington, DC on Jan. 6 with a plan to storm the Capitol and disrupt the transfer of power from President Donald Trump to Joe Biden and instead prove that the riot was more spontaneous.
J. Daniel Hull, one of the lawyers for the group, questioned in papers filed in November “whether a Proud Boy conspiracy plan to obstruct the Biden-Harris vote certification or to commit sedition ever existed or could have existed.”
Headed to DC courthouse shortly to cover sentencing of 4 Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy. Before Jan 6, DOJ used this statute against legit terrorists trying to kill Americans. Now Biden's DOJ successfully uses it against rabblerousers who knock over a bike rack:
The "existential threat" is a bunch of guys infiltrated by FBI planning a trip to DC to protest a rigged election; using inflammatory language in group chats infiltrated by FBI informants; and going into a public building during business hours. No weapons or assault necessary!
Enrique Tarrio wasn't even in DC. He was arrested the day before for (allegedly) burning a BLM banner in Dec 2020. Biden's DOJ wants these men to rot in prison---4 of them already have been held behind bars denied release under pretrial detention for 2 1/2 years.
Aside from the absurd claim the Proud Boys attempted a "revolution," note the sentence toward the bottom. Try to burn down federal courthouse in Portland or the White House while attacking federal police? Charges dropped. Protest Biden's election? Domestic terrorist.
Enrique Tarrio, known for his former role as chairman of the Proud Boys, has been sentenced to 22 years in prison over charges of seditious conspiracy in connection to the riot at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. This is now the longest sentence handed down to any January 6 defendant.
Prosecutors had sought to have Tarrio sentenced to 33 years in federal prison. Tarrio's co-defendants Zachary Rehl, Joe Biggs, and Ethan Nordean, all of whom were Proud Boys affiliates, all received anywhere between 15-18 years in prison.
Tarrio was not present at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. As was noted by American journalist Julie Kelly, he had been detained the day prior after an alleged burning of a BLM banner took place in December 2020.
The Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice stated,7
“No organization put more boots on the ground at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 than the Proud Boys, and they were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitol’s defenses, leading the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “The leaders of the Proud Boys and the leaders of the Oath Keepers, who conspired before, during, and after the siege of the Capitol to use force against their own government to prevent the peaceful transfer of power have now been held accountable.”
On May 4, 2023, a jury found Tarrio and three other co-defendants of multiple felonies, including seditious conspiracy for their actions before and during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Previously sentenced in this matter were co-defendants Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. Nordean was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Biggs was sentenced to 17 years, Rehl was sentenced to 15 years, and Pezzola was sentenced to 10 years.
According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, prior to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Tarrio created a special chapter of the Proud Boys known as the “Ministry of Self Defense,” which included co-defendants Nordean, Biggs, and Rehl, conspired to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States.
In the days leading to Jan. 6, 2021, Tarrio and the other leaders of the Ministry of Self Defense hand-selected members of the organization, including co-defendant Dominic Pezzola, to serve as “rally boys” during the attack on the Capitol. To prepare for the attack on the Capitol, Tarrio and the other leaders of the Ministry of Self Defense established a chain of command, chose a time and place for their attack, and intentionally recruited others who would follow their top-down leadership and who were prepared to engage in physical violence if necessary.
On Jan. 6, 2021, the group began their assault that day at 10:00 a.m. when Nordean, Biggs, Rehl, and others marched an assembled group of nearly 200 individuals away from speeches at the Ellipse and directly toward the Capitol. At 2:11 p.m., Pezzola smashed open a window, allowing the first rioters to enter the Capitol as Biggs and those with him entered close behind. Court documents say that Nordean, Biggs and Rehl, and the men they recruited and led, participated in every consequential breach at the Capitol that day.
As the events of Jan. 6, 2021, unfolded, Tarrio, who was monitoring the attack from afar as it unfolded, posted encouraging messages to his tens of thousands of social media followers, including the following messages: “Proud of my boys and my country” and “Don’t f****** leave.” Tarrio privately claimed credit for the riot at the Capitol, telling Proud Boys senior leadership, “Make no mistake . . . we did this.” On Jan. 7, 2021, Tarrio addressed the Ministry of Self Defense members, telling them he was “proud of y’all.”
During the hearing, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly found that Tarrio’s conduct constituted an official act of terrorism and applied an enhancement to his final sentence.
It seems rather odd how different his skin tone is here in this mugshot his aooearance in various videos and photos.
UNSEEN FOOTAGE of "terror mastermind" Enrique Tarrio the day before his Proud Boys army attempted to overthrow democracy and whatnot.
I mean, what terrorist doesn't openly talk with news media, have a documentary filmmaker drive you around DC, chat with cops and remark now nice they are, talk about hiring an attorney, and follow orders to leave the city right before the insurrection?
Listen to how law enforcement arrested him on a warrant for allegedly burning a BLM banner in Dec 2020.
Also present in this convoy--at least one FBI informant who drove Tarrio to the "garage meetup" with Stewart Rhodes (Oath Keepers) and other FBI informants.
