A judge has sentenced Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, to 22 years in prison.
Tarrio, who once served as national chairman of the far-right extremist group, and three lieutenants were convicted by a Washington jury in May of conspiring to block the transfer of presidential power in the hopes of keeping Donald Trump in the White House after the Republican president lost the 2020 election.
Tarrio, who was not at the Capitol riot itself, was a top target of what has become the largest justice department investigation in American history. He led the neo-fascist group – known for street fights with leftwing activists – when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his first election debate with Joe Biden.
The sentence is by far the longest punishment that has been handed down in the massive prosecution of the riot on 6 January 2021. The Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in a separate case, had received the longest sentence to date – 18 years.
During the sentencing, US district judge Timothy Kelly, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, said the evidence suggested Tarrio was “the ultimate leader” of the seditious conspiracy, “the ultimate person, who organized, who was motivated by revolutionary zeal”.
That conspiracy ended up with about 200 men amped up, encircling the Capitol, prepared for battle, led by his codefendants.
The judge said Tarrio not being present in Washington on 6 January served some strategic purposes in that it allowed him to attempt to “insulate” himself from what unfolded at the US Capitol. Despite this, Tarrio had an “outsized impact on the events of the day”, Kelly said.
The judge said he didn’t see any indication that Tarrio was remorseful for what he was convicted for, adding that there was a strong need to send a signal to others.
It can’t happen again.
However, the judge said he did not believe Tarrio intended to kill anyone and said he would not go as high as what prosecutors had sought.
