Proud Boys leader charged with conspiracy in Jan. 6 riot
A leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was arrested Tuesday on a conspiracy charge for his suspected role in a coordinated attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio wasn’t there when the riot erupted on Jan. 6, 2021. Police had arrested Mr. Tarrio in Washington two days before the riot and charged him with vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during a protest in December 2020. The day before the Capitol was attacked, a judge ordered Mr. Tarrio to stay out of Washington.
But Mr. Tarrio didn’t leave town as he should have, the indictment said. Instead, he met with Oath Keepers founder and leader Elmer “Stewart” Rhodes and others in an underground parking garage for approximately 30 minutes.
“During this encounter, a participant referenced the Capitol,” the indictment says.
Mr. Tarrio made his initial court appearance via video link to a Miami courtroom Tuesday. His detention hearing was scheduled for Friday.
The arrest came as federal prosecutors won a conviction on all counts in the first trial for a rioter since the attack.
The indictment is a further proof of how far the Justice Department is going to prosecute the leaders of extremist groups whose members are suspected to have planned and attacked the U.S. Capitol, even if they weren’t in attendance themselves. The latest conspiracy charge zeroes in on organized groups that plotted in advance — as federal prosecutors distinguish them from hundreds of other supporters of then-President Donald Trump who were at the scene that day and were charged.
The new riot- related charges are among the most serious filed so far, but they aren’t the first of their kind. Eleven members or associates of the antigovernment Oath Keepers militia group, including Mr. Rhodes, have been charged with seditious conspiracy in the Capitol attack.
Phillip Linder, an attorney representing Mr. Rhodes, also didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on his client’s behalf.
Mr. Tarrio, who has since stepped down from his post as Proud Boys chairman, didn’t immediately respond to a text message seeking comment on his arrest and indictment. He served five months for the unrelated case.
On Dec. 30, 2020, an unnamed person sent Mr. Tarrio a document that laid out plans for occupying a few “crucial buildings” in Washington on Jan. 6, including House and Senate office buildings around the Capitol, the indictment says. The nine-page document was entitled “1776 Returns” and called for having as “many people as possible” to “show our politicians We the People are in charge,” according to the indictment.