Proud Boys leader arrested on US Capitol attack conspiracy charge
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys far-right nationalist group, has been arrested and charged with conspiracy over the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
Tarrio, 38, faces counts of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of an official proceeding, and two counts each of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and destruction of government property.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Tarrio was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Miami on Tuesday.
Tarrio was not at the Capitol during the insurrection. Two days before, he was arrested in Washington and accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church. Also charged with possessing two high-capacity rifle magazines, he was released the following day and ordered to stay out of the capital.
According to the DoJ, Tarrio “nonetheless continued to direct and encourage the Proud Boys prior to and during the events of 6 January 2021”.
He later “claimed credit for what had happened on social media and in an encrypted chat room during and after the attack,” prosecutors said.
Four other individuals have been charged: Ethan Nordean, 31, of Auburn, Washington; Joseph Biggs, 38, of Ormond Beach, Florida; Zachary Rehl, 36, of Philadelphia; Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, North Carolina; and Dominic Pezzola, 44, of Rochester, New York.
“They earlier pleaded
