Proud Boys leader says he wants to tell his side of Jan 6 in new court filing

Court papers claim Enrique Tarrio is ‘locked up, broke, jobless’

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio may be “locked up, broke, [and] jobless,” but is ready to tell his side of what happened when numerous people associated with his neo-fascist group and others stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Imprisoned Tarrio “is keenly interested in participating in this civil case and others like it to the extent his time and resources allow. He wants to tell his side of the January 6 story,” according to a new court filing.

That could make for interesting listening. Tarrio and the Proud Boys are accused of being heavily involved in plans to discard the 2020 presidential election result and keep former President Donald Trump in power.

Last week, court filings revealed that Tarrio personally received a nine-page memo entitled “1776 Returns” in the week leading up to the Capitol riot detailing plans to “maintain control over a select few, but crucial buildings in the DC area for a set period of time.”

Tarrio was in Washington, DC in the days leading up to the riot, but was arrested on 4 January for burning a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from an area church during a Proud Boys rally in December. He was released on bail, but ultimately received a sentence of 155 days in jail last summer — 65 more than the Justice Department had requested.

Tarrio is now facing a raft of legal trouble for his participation in the planning of the riot. He has been charged with seditious conspiracy by the US Justice Department and is a defendant in four civil cases brought by Capitol Hill police officers and the District of Columbia.

These legal consequences have, according to his lawyer, left Tarrio destitute. He is now preparing for a criminal trial that is set to begin on 8 August.

The Proud Boys have continued to make headlines since his arrest and incarceration, but the group has also splintered — with several local chapters leaving the national organisation over frustrations with Tarrio’s leadership.

Tarrio, who hails from Miami, is not the only high-ranking Proud Boys member facing sedition charges. Four lieutenants of Tarrio’s have also been charged, while numerous other Proud Boys have been convicted of or are still facing lesser charges for their participation in various stages of the Capitol riot.

Tarrio, who was briefly a candidate for the US House of Representatives in Florida in the 2020 election, is currently incarcerated while awaiting trial.