Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, has been handed a 22-year prison sentence for his involvement in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio was one of six Proud Boys leaders charged with conspiring to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election results in Congress. Among them, he has received the lengthiest prison term to date.
Tarrio's sentencing hearing, originally scheduled for last week, was postponed due to Judge Timothy Kelly's illness.
Prosecutors had sought a 33-year sentence, while Tarrio's defense attorneys had appealed to Judge Kelly for a maximum sentence of 15 years.
To date, Tarrio's co-defendants in the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy case have received substantially shorter prison sentences than what the government had requested.
Among the January 6 rioters, Ethan Nordean, the head of the Seattle chapter of the Proud Boys and Tarrio's co-defendant, and Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers (convicted in a separate case), received the longest sentences so far, each with 18 years.
Nordean was sentenced last Friday.
Tarrio, Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl were all found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other offenses in May. A fifth defendant, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of that charge but convicted of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and robbery involving government property.
Like Tarrio, prosecutors had sought a 33-year prison term for Biggs, but Judge Kelly imposed a 17-year sentence.
Tarrio was also convicted of obstructing an official proceeding, conspiring to prevent an officer from carrying out their duties, obstructing law enforcement during a civil disturbance, and destroying government property valued at over $1,000.
Tarrio was not present at the actual Capitol riot because he had been arrested days earlier for setting fire to a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from Asbury United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., and had been ordered to leave the city.
Prosecutors argue that from a hotel outside of D.C., Tarrio directed his Proud Boys to attack the Capitol without his physical presence.
Tarrio's defense has asserted that he had no contact with any organization members during the riot and pointed to Nordean and Biggs as the instigators of the event. They further argued that "participating in a plan for the Proud Boys to protest on January 6 is not the same as instructing others on the ground to storm the Capitol using any means necessary."
Experts on extremism suggest that these sentences are unlikely to have a significant impact on the Proud Boys.
"They remain active in organizing and recruiting," explained Cassie Miller, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center. "And the authoritarian movement they are part of continues to grow."
Miller noted that unlike many other paramilitary groups, the Proud Boys have expanded in both membership and chapter numbers since January 6th. This growth is largely attributed to the group's shift from national organizing to local activism, focusing on issues such as LGBTQ and abortion rights restrictions.