Ex-Proud Boys chief Enrique Tarrio gets 22 years in jail for Capitol riots

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has been sentenced to 22 years in prison, the longest sentence yet in the Capitol rampage on January 6, 2021.

"That day broke our previously unbroken tradition of peacefully transferring power," US District Judge Timothy Kelly said on Tuesday.

Tarrio’s sentence is one among more than 1,100 Capitol riot cases, topping the 18-year sentences that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and one-time Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean both received after juries convicted them of seditious conspiracy and other charges.

It comes as the Justice Department prepares to put former president Donald Trump on trial at the same courthouse in Washington on charges that the then-president illegally schemed to cling to power that he knew had been stripped away by voters.

Rising to speak before the sentence was handed down, Tarrio pleaded for leniency, describing January 6 as a "national embarrassment" and apologising to the police officers who defended the Capitol and the lawmakers who fled in fear.

"I am not a political zealot. Inflicting harm or changing the results of the election was not my goal," Tarrio said.

"Please show me mercy," he said, adding, "I ask you that you not take my 40s from me."

'Calculated act of terrorism'

Prosecutors had sought 33 years behind bars for Tarrio, describing him as the ringleader of a plot to use violence to shatter the cornerstone of American democracy and overturn the election victory by Joe Biden, a Democrat, over Trump, the Republican incumbent.

"We need to make sure the consequences are abundantly clear to anyone who might be unhappy with the results of 2024, 2028, 2032 or any future election for as long as this case is remembered," prosecutor Conor Mulroe said.

"This was a calculated act of terrorism."

The backbone of the government’s case was hundreds of messages exchanged by Proud Boys in the days leading up to January 6 that prosecutors say showed how the extremists saw themselves as revolutionaries and celebrated the Capitol attack, which sent lawmakers running into hiding.

As Proud Boys swarmed the Capitol, Tarrio cheered them on from afar, writing on social media: "Do what must be done."

In a Proud Boys encrypted group chat later that day, someone asked what they should do next. Tarrio responded: "Do it again."

Tarrio's lawyers denied the Proud Boys had any plan to attack the Capitol or stop the certification of Biden's victory.

They argued that prosecutors used Tarrio as a scapegoat for Trump, who spoke at the "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House on January 6 and urged his supporters to "fight like hell."

Tarrio is the final Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy to receive his punishment.

Three fellow Proud Boys found guilty by a Washington jury of the rarely used sedition charge were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 18 years.

Source: TRT