Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the far-right group Proud Boys, has recently come under scrutiny for his involvement in a number of contentious events. Tarrio, along with three other members of the gang, was convicted of seditious conspiracy last month for his involvement in the Jan. 6 assault on the United States Capitol. In addition, he was accused of burning a Black Lives Matter banner in December 2020, which contributed to his detention when he came in Washington, D.C. for the Jan. 6 event. Furthermore, he was reportedly obtaining private information from a D.C. police lieutenant, who was detained and charged on Friday with obstruction of justice and giving false statements.
Tarrio has denied any misconduct and claims he was not at the Capitol on January 6. He further claimed that he burnt the flag in protest of “Marxist ideology” and that he had no knowledge the police officer was leaking information to him. Tarrio, on the other hand, was in constant touch with the officer and other Proud Boys members via encrypted messaging applications and phone conversations, and he coordinated their plans and activities before and during the Capitol attack, according to prosecutors.
The Proud Boys are a self-described “Western chauvinist” organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled as a hate group. They have engaged in violent conflicts with anti-fascist protestors and other organizations in cities around the United States. They have also backed former President Donald Trump’s bogus charges of electoral fraud. Tarrio and his co-defendants’ seditious conspiracy trial was one of the most high-profile trials coming from the Jan. 6 riot, which resulted in five fatalities and hundreds of injuries.
Judges Verdict
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly informed the parties that penalties will be imposed in August.
According to legal observers, the convictions on the historically unusual and politically serious crime of seditious conspiracy provided an essential signal of deterrence to anybody who would want to duplicate or be inspired by the political violence of that day. The ruling may potentially have ramifications for the former president. Special counsel Jack Smith is looking into whether Trump or those around him broke the law in their efforts to maintain power by spreading false and incendiary claims that the election was rigged, pressuring state and federal officials to help, and marching thousands of supporters who heard him speak at a Jan. 6 rally to the Capitol.
Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed at the Justice Department following the judgment, saying that the jury’s decision demonstrated “that the Justice Department will do everything in its power to defend the American people and American democracy.” Garland pointed out that one of the country’s greatest criminal investigations had resulted in over 600 convictions.
“Our work will continue,” Garland assured them. “The Justice Department will never stop working to defend the democracy to which all Americans are entitled.”
According to New York University law scholar Ryan Goodman, the ruling gives the special counsel the authority to file prosecutions for efforts to overturn the election.
“It highlights the enormous stakes in mobilizing Americans to believe the’big lie’ and directing an armed crowd to disrupt congressional proceedings,” Goodman added.
The convictions are a significant step forward in the pursuit of accountability for the perpetrators of the Capitol attack, “demonstrating that political violence and attacks on our democratic institutions will be taken seriously by our justice system and will not be tolerated,” said Lindsay Schubiner, director of programs at Western States Center, a Portland-based civil rights organization that monitors anti-democracy movements nationwide.
Prosecutors claimed for over 15 weeks that the Proud Boys on trial considered themselves as Trump’s “army.” Prosecutors claimed the men wanted to retain Trump in power by violence on the day Congress gathered to certify the presidential election results, inspired by his instruction to “stand by” during a September 2020 presidential debate and motivated by his December 2020 demand for a “wild” demonstration.
Tarrio’s lawyers retaliated by blaming the previous president, claiming that prosecutors were punishing the Proud Boys for their political beliefs, an unplanned disturbance sparked by Trump’s encouragement of irate fans, and law enforcement shortcomings.
