Proud Boys chairman found guilty of sedition

A federal jury found Enrique Tarrio, leader of the far-right, xenophobic street gang The Proud Boys, guilty of seditious conspiracy this Thursday, alongside three of his comrades. Charges were connected to the groups role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US capitol. 

Tarrio moved his way up the ranks of the Proud Boys, who have been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as being “known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric,” having “appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings” and getting into physical altercations with left-wing activists. 

Despite being directly associated with Neo-Nazi groups and racist sentiments, Tarrio — who is Afro-Cuban — became a respected member of the Proud Boy community. 

He later took control of the group, which was originally created by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, in 2018 after McInnes began to disaffiliate from the group. The Proud Boys began to directly associate themselves with the Donald Trump presidency and its notorious rallies. 

The trial made mention of Donald Trump on numerous occasions. Prosecutors told the jury that the Proud Boys were acting as “Donald Trump’s army” and that they organized and pushed for insurrection “to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it.”

Tarrio was not present at the actual riot, but rather orchestrated a Proud Boys presence from afar. He had been arrested several days earlier for carrying a semi-automatic rifle into D.C. 

But text obtained for the trial revealed that Tarrio and his affiliates saw the march on the Capitol as the beginnings of a revolution. 

Conversely, Tarrio’s defense team claimed that the Justice Department was using their client as a proxy for Trump and those in his inner circle who helped organize the Jan. 6 rally. 

“It was Donald Trump’s words, it was his motivation, it was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6 in your amazing and beautiful city,” Tarrio’s lawyer said. “They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald Trump and those in power.” 

Sentencing for the four defendants has yet to be determined.