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News > U.S.

Tarrio, Leader of Far-Right Proud Boys, to Jail for 5 Months

  • Far-right group the Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio shouts slogans at the protesters that attend a rally to commemorate the one year anniversary of George Floyd's death, in Miami, Florida, USA, 25 May 2021

    Far-right group the Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio shouts slogans at the protesters that attend a rally to commemorate the one year anniversary of George Floyd's death, in Miami, Florida, USA, 25 May 2021 | Photo: EFE

Published 23 August 2021
Opinion

The 37-year-old Cuban-American terrorist had organized demonstrations in favor of Trump and against the Black Lives Matter racial justice protests.

Cuban-American Enrique Tarrio, leader of the far-right Proud Boys group, was sentenced Monday in the United States to five months in prison for setting fire to a banner of the anti-racist Black Lives Matter movement during protests in support of former President Donald Trump.

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A key figure in the far-right movement that played a leading role in the Jan. 6 assault on Capitol Hill by Trump supporters, "Henry" Tarrio, was arrested two days before that event for tearing down the banner at a Washington church on Dec. 12 and burning it, according to the Justice Department. 

The Miami native was charged with the destruction of property, in part because of a photograph he posted on social media posing with the banner and a lighter in his hand.

Tarrio was also charged with possessing two high-capacity firearm magazines, which are illegal in the U.S. capital.

The 37-year-old had organized demonstrations in favor of Trump and against the Black Lives Matter racial justice protests that rocked the country for much of 2020 following white police officers' killings of African Americans. 

Late last year, Tarrio actively drummed up support for the Jan. 6 takeover of Capitol Hill, in which hundreds of Trump supporters, including members of violent right-wing militias like the Proud Boys, invaded the halls of the U.S. Capitol to prevent Joe Biden's certification of Trump as the winner of the election. 

"They look at us almost as right-wing soldiers," Tarrio said in a podcast before Jan. 6. "This is real. We're in a war." 

But when he arrived in Washington two days earlier, he was arrested for the Dec. 12 event and ordered to stay out of town until his court hearing. 

In July, he pleaded guilty to the charges in a plea agreement. 

He was sentenced to 155 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, and restitution of $347 to the church.

Identified with the colors black and yellow, the Proud Boys gained notoriety when President Trump told them to "stand back and wait" during a September 2020 debate with Biden, then the Democratic presidential nominee.

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