8-24-2021
Miami-based Proud Boys leader sentenced to 5 months in jail.WASHINGTON —
The Miami-based leader of the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio Jr., has been sentenced to five months in jail for burning a Black Lives Matter
banner and bringing high-capacity magazines into Washington, D.C., during a pro-Trump rally in December 2020.
Tarrio was sentenced to 155 days in jail on Monday by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on one count of destruction of property and one count of attempted possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device.
He had previously pleaded guilty to the charges in July and told media outlets shortly after the Dec. 12 pro-Trump rally that he was responsible for destroying a banner that belonged to the Asbury United Methodist Church in Washington.
He was arrested in January 2021 after arriving
in Washington to participate in a rally the 2020 election results that morphed into the insurrection
at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Other members of
the Proud Boys, a male-only extremist group that promotes far-right ideas and former
President Donald Trump, were arrested after
the U.S. Capitol riot.
“Mr. Tarrio has clearly, intentionally and proudly crossed the line from peaceful protest and assembly to dangerous and potentially violent criminal conduct,” D.C. Superior Court Judge Harold L. Cushenberry Jr. said during a virtual hearing that included statements from Tarrio and Asbury United Methodist pastor Rev. Ianther M. Mills.
“Considering Mr. Tarrio’s previous criminal conduct, particularly for fraud, the court does not credit his claims that he had no reason to know possession
of (high-capacity magazines) was illegal. He cared about himself and self-promotion, not the laws of D.C.”
Tarrio, 37, was ordered to report to jail in Washington within two weeks. A request from Tarrio’s defense lawyer to perform community service in Miami in lieu of jail time was denied.
“That day I made a grave mistake, a very, very bad mistake,” Tarrio said in court via video from Miami. “I’d like to profusely apologize for my actions.”
After the Jan. 6 insurrection, the FBI said Tarrio’s arrest two days before the Capitol riot was a failed attempt to head off violence from pro-Trump forces who believed the 2020 election was illegitimate.
Tarrio denied that he incited rioters, and said the
law enforcement agencies who failed to protect
the Capitol were using him as a scapegoat.
Tarrio, who briefly ran for Congress in 2020 against Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, led “stop the steal” rallies in Miami from November 2020 until January 2021, including a rally outside U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s home just days before the Jan. 6 attack.
During the 2020 election cycle, Tarrio and the Proud Boys were a frequent presence at South Florida GOP campaign events and one Miami member of the Proud Boys, Gabriel Garcia, ran in a GOP state House primary with what appeared to be financial support from former Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva.
In 2018, the Miami-Dade Republican Party was forced to apologize when Tarrio and Proud Boys members banged on doors while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Miami to meet with local Democrats.
Shortly after the January insurrection, Reuters reported that the FBI and Tarrio’s lawyer said in
court he was an informant for federal and local law enforcement from 2012 to 2014 after he was arrested in 2012 for reselling stolen medical devices, and had helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling.
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