Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump, storm the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File). Inset: FILE – Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio rallies in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group who boasted that “we did this” as throngs of Donald Trump supporters violently breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, has been sentenced to 22 years for plotting to use violence to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden as winner of the 2020 presidential election.
Tarrio, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday. The decades-long punishment surpasses the previous record for longest prison sentence to date in Jan. 6 cases; Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes was sentenced in May to 18 years behind bars, also for seditious conspiracy in connection with the violent riot.
NOW: Henry “Enrique” Tarrio is sentenced to 22 YEARS in prison and 36 mos. supervised release.
— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) September 5, 2023
Prosecutors had sought 33 years behind bars.
Before receiving his sentence, Tarrio spoke on his own behalf. He apologized for the violence against law enforcement officers who faced a losing battle holding back the riotous crowd, calling them heroes and saying they are worthy of praise. He also said he has been humbled by the trial.
Tarrio: I want to to voice…how sorry I am for 1/6. I want to start addressing those affected – those on the front lines.. I’ve heard some ppl villainize these officers, calling them traitors or unamerican. these officers deserve nothing but praise, respect for heroes they are
— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) September 5, 2023
He said he had started to doubt claims of widespread voter fraud in the election as early as November 2020, but when he raised these concerns to those around him, he was met with “insults and ridicule.”
In Nov, Tarrio says he went to election rally in GA and says a counter protester aimed a rifle at him.
“After this, I began to have doubts about election being stolen…I mentioned this to those close to me and I was met with insults and ridicule,” Tarrio says.— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) September 5, 2023
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He also said his comments after Jan. 6 — in which said he was proud of the Proud Boys — were meant to “appease” the members of the group he had led to that point.
Tarrio, alongside co-defendants Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, and Joseph Biggs were convicted in May of seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, and other crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. A fifth co-defendant, Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola, wasn’t convicted on the seditious conspiracy charge, but, like his co-defendants, was found guilty of conspiracy to prevent Congress or federal officers from discharging their duties, obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder; and destruction of government property.
Kelly, a Trump appointee, sentenced Nordean to 18 years in prison on Friday. Biggs received a 17-year sentence on Thursday, while Rehl was ordered to serve 15 years.
Pezzola, who was memorably seen smashing a window to the Capitol in the first violent breach of the building, was sentenced to 10 years behind bars. After a tearful plea for mercy at Friday’s hearing, the New York Proud Boys member victoriously shouted “Trump won!” as he was leaving the courtroom after learning his fate.
Tarrio and his four co-defendants faced a raft of other charges in addition to seditious conspiracy, widely considered to be the most serious charge to date against rioters who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6. The mob, spurred on by then-President Donald Trump’s repeated false statements that fraud affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, overwhelmed police trying to beat back the crowd and violently breached the building as Congress had begun to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win. Lawmakers were forced to evacuate or shelter in place for several harrowing hours.
The trial of the top leadership of the self-described “Western Chauvinist” group was a rocky road from the start, with nearly three weeks of contentious jury selection. Opening arguments from prosecutors reminded jurors of Trump’s “stand back and stand by” edict to the Proud Boys — issued during a September 2020 presidential debate — and said that the extremist group was prepared to engage in violence in order disrupt the peaceful transition of presidential power and keep Trump in office.
“These men did not stand back,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough said in opening statements. “They did not stand by. Instead, they mobilized.”
Prosecutors had alleged that Tarrio created the group’s so-called “Ministry of Self Defense” (MOSD) chapter in order to plan for violence on Jan. 6 and used encrypted messaging to organize and coordinate the Proud Boys’ role in the attack. While Tarrio himself was not in Washington that day — having recently been ordered to leave the city after being arrested for burning a stolen Black Lives Matter flag in front of a historically Black D.C. church — he encouraged his followers to stay the course at the Capitol.
Similarly, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack found that the Proud Boys “did lead the assault” on the Capitol building that day.
The defense teams, meanwhile, argued that there wasn’t enough evidence to show that the defendants had all mutually agreed to carry out the attack. At least five police officers who engaged with the violent mob died after Jan. 6. Dozens more were injured.
Attorneys for the defendants also argued that Trump — who earlier that day told his supporters at the so-called “Stop the Steal rally” to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell” — was the real culprit.
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