Jan 6 Stuff

Saboteur Media - via Reuters

WaPo: (pay wall)

Longtime Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio charged with conspiracy in Jan. 6 attack on Capitol

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, a leader of the extremist group the Proud Boys, has been indicted on a conspiracy charge in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tarrio, 38, who lives in Miami, joins Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes as the two most high-profile individuals charged by the Justice Department in connection with the attack. In recent months, Tarrio has described himself as a former leader of the Proud Boys.

The charge against him marks another major move in the multi-pronged investigation by the Justice Department and FBI of the extremist groups who allegedly played large roles in the Jan. 6 violence. From the start of the investigation — the largest in the FBI’s history in terms of charged suspects — agents have focused on the role that the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers allegedly played in driving the confrontation between supporters of then-President Donald Trump and police stationed outside the Capitol.

Tarrio was not at the Capitol that day, and has denied that he or his group organized any violence at the Capitol. He was ordered to stay outside of Washington, D.C., shortly before Jan. 6 as part of his bond conditions after he was arrested for allegedly burning a stolen Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a historic African American church in the city. The banner was burned the night of Dec. 12, which was the date of an earlier rally by Trump supporters who did not accept the results of the 2020 election. Tarrio pleaded guilty to burning the banner and to attempted possession of a high-capacity ammunition magazine.

Efforts to reach Tarrio on Tuesday were not immediately successful.

Prosecutors indicted Rhodes in connection with the Capitol attack in January, charging him and 10 other Oath Keepers or associates with seditious conspiracy. The indictment alleges that Rhodes plotted in late 2020 and early 2021 to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president, guiding a months-long effort to unleash political violence that culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

“Rhodes and certain co-conspirators ... planned to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power by January 20, 2021, which included multiple ways to deploy force,” the indictment says.

Rhodes, 56, remains in jail while awaiting trial. He has pleaded not guilty and has said he did not enter the Capitol, denying any wrongdoing.

One co-defendant in the case, Joshua James, on March 2 become the first defendant to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy, a historically rare charge that carries a maximum 20-year prison term.

James, a 34-year-old Army veteran from Arab, Ala., admitted helping lead a group that prosecutors say sent two teams in body armor, helmets and tactical gear into the Capitol and staged a cache of weapons in a hotel just outside the city.

James also pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding. He may face the stiffest sentence of any Jan. 6 defendant so far, roughly 87 to 108 months, according to preliminary federal sentencing guidelines. But he has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, who could recommend leniency.