Proud Boys leader Tarrio charged with conspiracy in Capitol riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 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 Tarrio to stay out of Washington.

But 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.

Tarrio was scheduled to appear in federal court in Miami later in the day.

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 Rhodes, have been charged with seditious conspiracy in the Capitol attack.

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 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.

"The revolution is important than anything," the person said.

"That's what every waking moment consists of ... I'm not playing games," Tarrio responded, the indictment says.

Proud Boys members describe the group as a politically incorrect men's club for "Western chauvinists." Its members frequently have brawled with antifascist activists at rallies and protests. Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling it as a hate group.