Enrique Tarrio, Allowed by Trump, Contributed to the Chaos in the Capitol

Inducting Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys, into an extraordinary pardon for the events of January 6, 2021, President Trump granted the pardon on Monday for a man described by prosecutors as an extremist and street fighter who helped. his compatriots in the “army of Trump” begin to attack the Capitol.

Mr. Tarrio, 42, served 22 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit sedition and other crimes for his role in the Capitol attack. It was the longest sentence of the nearly 1,600 people charged on January 6.

The representative of Mr. Tarrio said he was released from a federal prison in Louisiana and was due to return to his hometown of Miami on Tuesday afternoon.

Even before Jan. 6, Mr. Tarrio was one of the country’s most prominent far-right figures, taking part in violent protests following a deadly neo-Nazi rally there. Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017. Rarely seen. sans sunglasses and baseball cap, he took control of the Proud Boys the following year after the group’s founder, Gavin McInnes, left.

But Mr. Tarrio is arguably better known for his role in supporting Mr. Trump during the 2020 election — and in the tumultuous months after he lost the race. The Proud Boys were thrust into the heart of that campaign two months before Election Day when Mr. Trump invoked the group on its behalf in one of his presidential debates. national, told its members to “stand and stand”.

Mr. Tarrio immediately responded on social media, “Stand up, sir.”

In December of that year, Mr. Tarrio responded to a message that Mr. Trump himself had sent on social media, calling his supporters to Washington on January 6 for what he said would be “wild” opposition. The next day, Mr. Tarrio formed a team of “hand-picked members” for the rally, court documents said, known in the Proud Boys as the Ministry of Self-Defense.

During the trial of Mr. Tarrio and four other Proud Boys, federal prosecutors described how the group “hungered for violence and organized action” after Mr. Trump’s election victory and ultimately fought in the Capitol “to keep what they want. leaders in power regardless of what the law or the courts say about it”.

Mr. Tarrio was not in Washington on January 6. He had been fired by a local judge days earlier, leading to separate criminal charges against him for vandalizing a black church after an earlier pro-Trump rally. But prosecutors said he and other members of his group were texting each other in a different way, while the crowd, led by the Proud Boys, stormed the Capitol.

Ultimately, video footage of the attack showed that the Proud Boys were instrumental in encouraging other rioters to fight the police or confront officers. The members of the group were involved in violating police orders and were at the forefront of violence almost throughout the day.

When he was sentenced in Federal Court in Washington, Mr. Tarrio sought to show himself humbled by the January 6 incident, apologizing for his role in the riots and calling it a “disgrace- nation”.

“I am not a politician,” he said.

A few months before his trial, he met secretly with federal prosecutors, who, by his own account, offered him relief if he could corroborate their theory that he was in contact with Mr. Trump. on the 6th of January. through at least three intermediaries.

Mr. Tarrio said he told prosecutors they were wrong — a position that, regardless of its truth, would surely have pleased Trump once it was made public.

It is not yet clear what the release of Mr. Tarrio for the future of the Proud Boys. He is a popular figure in the group, beloved by some members and despised and distrusted by others, including many from his hometown of Miami.

Additionally, the organization disbanded its national leadership and backed off from high-profile protests after January 6, which led to the arrest and prosecution of dozens of members. While some Proud Boys chapters used violent language on their online accounts during the 2024 campaign, rarely on the streets or at rallies in support of Mr. Trump the group.