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Enrique Tarrio, now former leader of the neo-fascists Proud Boys gang convicted of treason after instigating a mob attack on the Capitol has been released from federal prison after Donald Trump‘s broad pardons for almost every accused on January 6.
Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prisonhe was among four members of the group convicted of seditious plots and other crimes after a four-month trial.
Stewart Rhodes — the founder of the extreme right Oath Keepers anti-government militia similarly convicted of rebel plots and sentenced to 18 years in prison — was also subsequently released from prison Trump commuted the sentence together with 13 other associates of these two groups.
More than 1,500 people have been criminally charged in connection with the mob attack on the Capitol, fueled by Trump’s false narrative that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen from him.
Trump issued a “full pardon” for practically everyone Jan. 20, and commuted the sentences of 14 convicted members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to time served. Pending cases are dismissed.
“These are hostages,” he said as he signed a series of orders from the Oval Office.
“We’re hoping it comes out tonight, honestly,” he said. “These people are devastated. What they did to these people is outrageous. There has rarely been anything like it in the history of our country.”
More than 600 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing police officers or officers during the civil disturbance, including nearly 200 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, according to the Justice Department.
More than 1,000 defendants pleaded guilty. More than 200 people were found guilty at trial – including 10 like Tarrio and Rhodes who were found guilty of seditious plots.
Tarrio — who was not in Washington, DC on January 6 — was found guilty of organizing and directing the crowd toward the Capitol, where members of the Proud Boys dismantled barricades and smashed windows to break into the halls of Congress, then boasted about their actions on social media and in group chat messages that were later shared with jurors.
Trump commuted the sentences of other members of the Proud Boys on trial in Tarrio — including Ethan Nordean, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison; Joe Biggs, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison; Zachary Rehl, who was sentenced to 15 years; and Dominic Pezzola, the only co-defendant among them not convicted of the rebellion conspiracy, who was sentenced to 10 years.
Members of the Oath Keepers similarly convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges — including Rhodes — also had their sentences commuted to time served by the president.
Last monththe judge who presided over Rhodes’ trial said the pardon should be “terrifying to anyone who cares about democracy in this country”.
Tarrio served as the Proud Boys’ “naturally charismatic leader, savvy propagandist and celebrity president,” using his influence over subordinates and allies to “organize and execute a conspiracy to violently stop the peaceful democratic transfer of power” as lawmakers convened to validate election results, according to federal prosecutors.
Tarrio instead used his talent “to inflame and radicalize an inordinate number of followers, promoting political violence in general and orchestrating the alleged conspiracies in particular,” they argued.
During the televised presidential debate on September 29, 2020, moderator Chris Wallace repeatedly asked Trump if he would condemn white supremacism. Trump asked for a name to reference. Joe Biden, who was standing on the opposite side of the stage, suggested the Proud Boys.
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand aside,” Trump said. “But I will tell you what somebody needs to do about antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem. This is the problem of the left.”
Almost immediately, members of the Proud Boys and their allies celebrated what they heard as a call to action. On Parler, Tarrio wrote, “I’m ready, sir.”
On December 12, 2020, Tarrio and members of the Proud Boys and other far-right groups rioted in Washington after Trump’s defeat. Tarrio admitted in comments on Parler and on a Proud Boys-affiliated podcast that he was responsible for burning the church sign.
“I set it on fire,” he said. “I was the person who stepped forward, put the lighter on and lit it, and I’m damn proud I did.”
Tarrio was arrested moments after arriving in Washington from Miami on January 4, 2021. During his arrest, police discovered that Tarrio was carrying two high-capacity magazines compatible with high-powered rifles. Both were empty.
But in the weeks leading up to his arrival, Tarrio and his co-defendants assembled the “Ministry of Self-Defense,” which prosecutors say became the “primary instrument” through which group members prepared for January 6.
Members of the group were instructed to hide and destroy evidence of their conversations and to refuse to cooperate with law enforcement, with warnings of renunciation and retaliation if members were exposed.
In the days before the attack, Tarrio exchanged messages about a document titled “The Return of 1776” that included plans to occupy “key buildings” with “as many people as possible,” including the House and Senate. One message told him that “the revolution is [sic] more important than anything,” to which Tarrio replied, “That’s what every waking moment is made of… I don’t play games.”
On Jan. 6, Tarrio told followers on social media that day to “do what you gotta do” and, in a group chat with other Proud Boys members, “do it again.”
“Don’t fucking leave,” he told them.
“Make no mistake,” he wrote in another message. “We did this.”
Rhodes and his allies spent weeks debating a violent response to the 2020 election over encrypted messaging apps, then staged a cache of weapons and supplies at a nearby hotel before joining a mob that broke through Capitol doors and windows to storm the halls. Congress, according to prosecutors.
After several members stormed the Capitol that day, shouting “this is our fucking house” and “we took the fucking Capitol” as they joined the mob, Rhodes hailed them as “patriots.” He told an ally that his only regret was that day that the group was not armed.
A few days after Jan. 6, Rhodes typed a message addressed to then-President Trump, urging him to “save the republic” or “die in prison”.
That message was ultimately never delivered, but echoed another message posted on the Oath Keepers website a few weeks earlier, urging Trump to invoke the Sedition Act and deputize Rhodes and the Oath Keepers to take up arms against the government.
“Better to do it with you as commander-in-chief than to submit to a fraudulent election, leave office and leave the White House in the hands of illegitimate usurpers and Chinese puppets,” he wrote at the time.
He followed up with another message demanding that Trump “attack”, “put the hammer down” and deliver a “terrible blow” to his enemies “while they sleep, wrapped in their arrogance”.
Rhodes also instructed his allies to “ready their gear and get ready to fight,” adding that “Trump has one last chance to stop right now, but he’s going to need us and our guns.”