Proud Boys leader charged in Capitol attack, Texas man convicted
AFP, March 9, 2022 — A leader of the far-right Proud Boys group was arrested Tuesday for his role in the storming of the US Capitol and a Texas man was found guilty of all charges in the first trial stemming from the attack on Congress by supporters of Donald Trump.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 38, was arrested in Miami and indicted on conspiracy and other charges, the Justice Department said.
Tarrio, the former “national chairman” of the Proud Boys, is the second top leader of a right-wing militant group to be arrested since the start of the year in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob.
Stewart Rhodes, 56, founder of the Oath Keepers, has been charged with seditious conspiracy along with 10 other members of the anti-government group — the most serious of the charges filed so far in the sprawling investigation of the storming of the Capitol.
Tarrio, who was not in Washington the day of the attack, was charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement, destruction of government property and other offenses.
Five other members of the Proud Boys were arrested previously for their involvement in the Capitol riot and have pleaded not guilty.
More than 775 people have been arrested in connection with the attack on Congress and nearly 220 have pleaded guilty to various charges.
The trial of the first Capitol riot defendant to plead not guilty concluded with his swift conviction on all charges on Tuesday.
A jury found Guy Reffitt, 49, guilty of bringing a gun to Washington, interfering with police and impeding an official proceeding — the certification by Congress of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 presidential election.
Reffitt, a member of a right-wing militia group called the Texas Three Percenters, was also found guilty of threatening his teenaged son and daughter if they spoke to law enforcement about his involvement in the attack on the Capitol.
Reffitt’s then 18-year-old son did go to the FBI despite his father’s warning that “traitors get shot” and delivered emotional testimony against his father in court.
