Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is scheduled to face sentencing on Tuesday for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot that saw the breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington. This comes in the wake of recent sentences handed down to several Proud Boys members linked to the insurrection.
Back in August, Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced Proud Boys members Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl to 17 and 15 years in prison, respectively. In a recent development, on Friday, Kelly sentenced Dominic Pezzola and Ethan Nordean, also associated with the Proud Boys, to 10 and 18 years, respectively. Notably, Nordean’s 18-year sentence ties with Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes for the longest sentence handed down to a January 6 rioter.
It’s worth noting that Tarrio wasn’t physically present in Washington during the riot, but prosecutors argue that he played a significant role in organizing the group’s command structure and remained in communication with fellow Proud Boys members during the events of that day.
Prosecutors are seeking a hefty 33-year sentence for Tarrio, the longest request for any January 6 defendant. In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors accuse Tarrio and his associates of attempting to subvert the democratic process, stating, “They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election. The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power. They failed.”
Judge Kelly’s previous sentences for Proud Boys members have been below the sentencing guidelines, primarily due to the fact that previous convictions for seditious conspiracy typically involved loss of life.
