Miami native and former Proud Boys chief Enrique Tarrio has been sentenced to 22 years in jail for his position within the January 6 rebel on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 — the longest sentence handed to a January 6 defendant.
In May, Tarrio and different members of the far-right group have been convicted of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to impede an official continuing, amongst different costs. Prosecutors claimed the then-Proud Boys chief directed a squad referred to as the “Ministry of Self Defense” in a siege of the Capitol geared toward blocking the switch of presidential energy from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
While Tarrio was not on the Capitol in the course of the riot — as he was arrested two days earlier on costs associated to the burning of a stolen Black Lives Matter flag — prosecutors claimed he organized and spearheaded the Proud Boys’ assault on the constructing. Prosecutors used a trove of textual content messages to indicate that the Proud Boys chief refused to simply accept Trump’s election defeat and have become resolved to revolt within the weeks main as much as January 6.
At the sentencing listening to, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, pointed to social media posts by which Tarrio proclaimed in the course of the assault, “Don’t fucking depart,” and “Proud of my boys and my nation.” The decide characterised Tarrio because the undisputed captain of a militant department of the Proud Boys, motivated by his want to be seen as a revolutionary.
Prosecutors had sought a 33-year sentence in a memo that documented how cops have been crushed and pepper-sprayed by the mob.
Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, pointed to social media posts by which Tarrio proclaimed, “Don’t fucking depart.”
tweet this
“The actions of those defendants threatened the bedrock rules of our nation — democracy and the rule of regulation. These defendants sought out and embraced their position because the purveyors of road violence to attain their political aims,” the memo stated, referring to Tarrio and his co-defendants.
Pleading for leniency, Tarrio informed the courtroom, “What occurred on January 6 was a nationwide embarrassment.” His attorneys had argued for a decrease sentence, claiming Tarrio didn’t advocate for violence or property destruction.
Four former Proud Boys who have been tried alongside Tarrio have been sentenced final week for his or her roles within the assault, together with Dominic Pezzola, who smashed a Capitol window within the first breach of the constructing, and Zachary Rehl, who led the cost into the constructing and sprayed a police officer with an irritant chemical amid the chaos, in accordance with prosecutors’ sentencing memos.
Long earlier than Tarrio made headlines because the architect of the January 6 assault, New Times was chronicling his life as an everyday Miami child, his rise amongst Proud Boy circles in South Florida, and his run-ins with the regulation.
Here is a rundown of New Times‘ protection of Tarrio by means of the years:
Tarrio was born in Miami, a first-generation American son of Cuban immigrants. He was raised amongst Catholic, conservative members of the family, a few of whom have been Cuban exiles with a robust disdain for leftist politics. He attended the now-defunct Il Savior Academy in Sunset earlier than dropping out in eleventh grade.
Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in jail in reference to the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.
Tarrio joined the Proud Boys’ Miami chapter when it was a burgeoning group with a comparatively small membership and with Vice News co-founder Gavin McInnes as its chief. Tarrio attended high-profile rallies just like the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right occasion and took part within the group’s clashes with leftist protesters across the nation. His refusal to shrink back from confrontation helped him rise by means of the ranks and procure Proud Boys’ highest designation as a “fourth-degree” member. After a riot involving a number of Proud Boys in New York City, McInnes stepped down and Tarrio grew to become the chairman of the group in late 2018.
After Twitter suspended Tarrio and different Proud Boys within the fall of 2018, he made his approach again on the platform and made threats to report undocumented immigrants to federal brokers.
The Proud Boys chief introduced he was difficult then-Rep. Donna Shalala in Florida’s twenty seventh Congressional District within the 2020 election. In the three months since asserting his run, Tarrio raised lower than $5,000.
Two days earlier than the January 6 rebel, Tarrio was arrested and charged with one misdemeanor rely of destruction of property for burning a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a historic Black church in Washington, D.C. He additionally confronted weapons costs after police found two high-capacity firearm magazines in his possession.
Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio smiles after being sentenced on August 23, 2021, on costs associated to the burning of a stolen Black Lives Matter flag.
Photo by Joshua Ceballos
After Reuters uncovered that Tarrio had labored as a federal regulation enforcement informant following his 2012 arrest in a bootleg medical provide resale scheme, the group disavowed their chief and incessantly known as him a rat. In the months following that report, Tarrio was ousted from his place and shaped a brand new chapter known as Villain City.
After the decide denied his movement for compassionate launch, Tarrio didn’t obtain sympathy from members of Miami’s Vice City Proud Boys, the chapter he based in 2018. A message in a South Florida Proud Boys chat made thinly veiled threats that he’d face retribution if he have been granted the chance to return to Miami.
The U.S. House of Representatives choose committee to analyze the January 6 riot issued a subpoena to the far-right chief, searching for to find out whether or not Tarrio had communications with Trump referring to the January 6 riot and any connection between Tarrio and authorities and/or navy officers. The subpoena alleged that Tarrio and the Proud Boys performed a direct position in planning the riot.
Ahead of his launch from jail, Tarrio informed New Times he not needed to guide the Proud Boys and hoped to create a brand new group focused on political activism round right-wing causes on the native authorities stage. Using the connections he constructed whereas working with the Proud Boys and Latinos for Trump, he needed to rally folks collectively for college board conferences, metropolis fee conferences, and municipal elections.
Less than two months after he was launched from jail within the flag-burning case, Tarrio was indicted on federal costs for his involvement with the January 6 rebel. The feds claimed Tarrio was on the heart of the plot and met with different far-right teams to coordinate the siege. Despite not being on the Capitol that day due to his January 4 arrest, prosecutors claimed Tarrio stayed in touch with high-ranking Proud Boys as they stormed the Capitol, sending messages celebrating the bedlam, considered one of which proclaimed, “Make no mistake… We did this.”