Enrique Tarrio was sentenced on Tuesday for his role in the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio, 39, was convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges and received a sentence of 22 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release. His was the longest sentence to date of the more than 1,100 charges related to the attack.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, stressed Tarrio’s important role in organizing and leading the attack.
Tarrio’s lawyers had argued that the fact that he was not physically present in Washington D.C. on the day of the riots, meant that he had no “direct influence” on the incidents of that day.
The judge disagreed: “Mr. Tarrio was the ultimate leader of that conspiracy. Mr. Tarrio was the ultimate leader, the ultimate person who organized, who was motivated by revolutionary zeal.”
“On January 6th, 2021, the United States Capitol was attacked, 140 law enforcement officers defending those insides were assaulted, and the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government – a cornerstone of our democracy – was interrupted,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a press release.
“Today, the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, learned that the consequence of conspiring to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power is 22 years in federal prison,” added Garland.
Tarrio came to Washington on January 4, 2021 and was detained for a separate incident, despite not being physically present at the Capitol during the breach. During the insurgency, he monitored and delivered instructions from a Baltimore hotel.
Tarrio showed regret before his sentence, labeling the incident a “national embarrassment,” and promising to remain out of politics and organized groups after his release from prison. He also apologized to the police officers who defended the Capitol and the legislators who fled in terror.
“I am not a political zealot. Inflicting harm or changing the results of the election was not my goal,” Tarrio stated.
“Please show me mercy,” he said, adding, “I ask you that you do not take my 40s from me.”
Prosecutors demanded a 33-year prison sentence, calling Tarrio’s conduct “a calculated act of terrorism.” His attorneys maintained that he had been unfairly singled out as a victim for former President Trump’s comments.
Tarrio is the last Proud Boys commander to be sentenced for seditious conspiracy. Three more Proud Boys were found guilty of sedition by a Washington court and handed to prison terms that ranged from 15 to 18 years.