Enrique Tarrio, a former chairman of the far-right Proud Boys group, was arrested outside the U.S. Capitol earlier this week, police confirmed, after Tarrio was involved in an altercation with a woman at a counter-protest. File photo by Gamal Diab/EPA-EFE
Feb. 22 (UPI) — A former leader of the far-right Proud Boys group was arrested outside the U.S. Capitol one month after he was pardoned by President Donald Trump, police confirmed.
On Friday, U.S. Capitol Police arrested Enrique Tarrio after he was involved in an altercation with a woman at a counter-protest outside a Proud Boys news conference.
Tarri, 41, was granted a pardon by Trump in his first day in office on Jan. 20 along with others involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He was released from federal prison in Pollock, La, and arrived in Miami on Jan. 22.
In 2023, the former Proud Boy national chairman was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted of a seditious conspiracy charge. That charge came with a domestic terrorism enhancement for the Florida native’s role at the Capitol.
Tarrio’s prison sentence was the longest of any person convicted in relation to the Jan. 6 attack.
His arrest Thursday was for a simple assault after Tarrio allegedly knocked a cellphone out of a woman’s hand who had been filming the Proud Boys news conference.
The woman then asked police to proceed with the charges.
Members of the far-right Oath Keepers group also were at the news conference, including founder Stewart Rhodes, who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 attack. He was later sentenced to 18 years in prison but had that sentence commuted by Trump.
Both groups held the news conference to announce they now plan to file lawsuits over their arrests and convictions stemming from the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I’m not talking about violent retribution,” Tarrio said during the news conference.
“I’m talking about something much more powerful: accountability and the rule of law.”
Earlier this month, a judge granted ownership of the trademarked Proud Boys name to a Black church in Washington, D.C. The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church was vandalized in 2020, reportedly by members of the Proud Boys.
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