2023-09-06 15:31:33
The former leader of the far-right “Proud Boys” group that invaded the capitol on January 6, 2021, Enrique Tarrio, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
It was on January 6, 2021. Some 200 activists from a far-right group called “Proud Boys” stormed the Capitol, seat of Congress and the cradle of American democracy, to prevent the certification of the victory of Democrat Joe Biden over outgoing Republican President Donald Trump.
Enrique Tarrio, then leader of the small group, was not in Washington at the time of the attack. However, Federal Judge Timothy Kelly deemed him “the ultimate leader of the conspiracy”, and sentenced him to 22 years in prison, the heaviest sentence handed down for the events.
Last week, the four other Proud Boys members also found guilty were sentenced to between 10 and 18 years in prison.
“More general than soldier”
On the day of the events, Enrique Tarrio was in the neighboring state of Maryland, in Baltimore, due toa court order ordering him to leave the federal capital. Indeed, the previous month, he had been banned from the city for burning a “Black Lives Matter” banner belonging to a Washington church mainly attended by African Americans.all heavily armed. This injunction was part of the conditions of his release following two days of detention.
“The physical absence of Tarrio in no way lessens the seriousness of his actions sincehe was more of a general than a soldier“, had put forward the prosecutors in their requisitions.
Originally from Florida, Enrique Tarrio is familiar with the courts. In 2004, aged 20, he was convicted of theft. Nine years later, in 2013, he is serving 16 months in prison for selling stolen medical equipment. In exchange for a reduced sentence, he then takes the cap ofinformant to help the FBI catch criminals involved in drug trafficking, gambling, and human trafficking.
In 2018, he was named leader of the “Proud Boys”, an all-male group that describes itself as a “club of drinkers with political problems”. They assume a misogynistic, homophobic, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic worldview.
Representative of pro-Trump Latinos
Enrique Tarrio, of Afro-Cuban descent, was one of the outgoing president’s unconditional supporters sincehe had also served as the representative of pro-Trump Latinos in Florida since 2016. He notably stood out on CNN by calling all firearms laws “unconstitutional”.
Adherence to white supremacism of individuals classified as “Latinos” in the ethno-racial terminology in force in American society seems highly paradoxical. In an August New York Times op-ed, anthropologist Yarimar Bonilla observed: “Just as ‘Western supremacists’ in the United States cling to their European heritage by exalting their Celtic culture, many latinos refer to eurocentric canons of beauty, aesthetics and culture“.
The assault on the Capitol resulted in more than 1,100 arrests and indictments so far. More than half of the people were sentenced, the majority to prison terms.
CV Express
- Enrique Tarrio was born in Florida in 1984.
- In 2013, he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for selling stolen medical equipment.
- Between 2013 and 2014, he cooperated with the FBI in drug, gambling and human trafficking cases.
- In 2016, he became the representative of pro-Trump Latinos in Florida.
- In 2018, he became head of the far-right “Proud Boys” militia.
- In 2023, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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