Enrique Tarrio, the now-former leader of the neo-fascist Proud Boys gang convicted on treason-related charges after fuelling a mob on January 6, has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Tarrio was among four members of the group convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes earlier this year following a four-month trial. Tarrio, as the group’s leader, organized and directed a mob towards the US Capitol, where Proud Boys dismantled barricades and broke windows to breach the halls of Congress, then bragged about their actions on social media and in group chat messages that were later shared with jurors.
He served as a “naturally charismatic leader, a savvy propagandist, and the celebrity Chairman” of the group, wielding his influence over his subordinates and allies to “organize and execute the conspiracy to forcibly stop the peaceful democratic transfer of power” as lawmakers convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.
Tarrio instead used his talents “to inflame and radicalize untold numbers of followers, promoting political violence in general and orchestrating the charged conspiracies in particular,” they argued.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly, characterising Tarrio as the “ultimate leader” of that conspiracy in a lengthy sentencing hearing in Washington DC on 5 September, handed him the largest prison sentence to date among cases connected to the Capitol attack.
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Federal sentencing guidelines indicated Tarrio could have faced 27 to 33 years in prison. Prosecutors sought a sentence of 33 years.
As he did with other Proud Boys cases, the judge applied what is called a terrorism “enhancement” to the sentencing guidelines but refrained from imposing larger prison sentences for crimes he has contrasted to mass casualty events.
Four other members of the group were sentenced last week for their roles in the attack. Ethan Nordean received a sentence of 18 years in prison, tying Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes for what is now the second-longest sentence to date among the hundreds of people convicted in connection with January 6.
Joe Biggs was sentenced to 17 years, Zachary Rehl was sentenced to 15 years, and Dominic Pezzola – the sole co-defendant among them who was not convicted of seditious conspiracy – was sentenced to 10 years. read more…
