Proud Boys leader gets arrested by Capitol Police weeks after getting pardon from Trump

21 February

Enrique Tarrio — leader of far-right street gang the Proud Boys — is now once again in federal custody, just a month after President Donald Trump pardoned him for his crimes on January 6, 2021.

On Friday, Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney tweeted a photo of Tarrio outside of the U.S. Capitol being handcuffed by Capitol Police officers. Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs also posted a video of Tarrio's arrest to his own X account on Friday.

According to Cheney, Tarrio was cuffed after a confrontation with counter-protesters, and police intervened after Tarrio was allegedly seen "swiping his hand at a counterprotester who got in his face." The counter-protesters were seen earlier on Friday following a group of January 6 defendants outside of the Capitol, blowing whistles and yelling at them on megaphones.

Zuny Tarrio, who is Enrique's mother, posted a statement to X insisting her son "Still Did Nothing Wrong!"

"We are united in our lives with Enrique, and know that the government's injustices must be exposed!" She wrote. "This is our fight! This must not continue!"

According to journalist Bill McCarthy, Tarrio was in Washington D.C. with other pardoned January 6 defendants including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes on Friday, and announced plans to sue the Department of Justice (DOJ). The Proud Boys leader is reportedly seeking $150 million in damages, and is paying for the lawsuit with funds from a new cryptocurrency.

Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison by former Attorney General Merrick Garland's DOJ for multiple charges including seditious conspiracy – the most serious charge handed down for January 6-related prosecutions. Rhodes was also sentenced for seditious conspiracy, and was serving an 18-year prison sentence before Trump pardoned him on January 20.

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