2023-09-05 22:42:10
The former leader of the far-right US militia Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Tuesday for his role in the storming of the US Capitol in January 2021. “That day broke our previously unbroken tradition of peaceful transfers of power,” Justice Timothy Kelly said at the nearly four-hour sentencing hearing in Washington. It is the highest penalty to date in connection with the storming of the Capitol.
The prosecution had asked for 33 years in prison for Tarrio. Although he was not in Washington on January 6, 2021, he was accused of directing the attack on the Capitol by members of the Proud Boys.
Tarrio, 39, and several other members of the Proud Boys were found guilty of “seditious conspiracy” in May. Judge Kelly justified the high sentence against Tarrio by saying that he was the “supreme leader of the conspiracy”.
On January 6, 2021, the Proud Boys were involved in the violent storming of the US Capitol by radical supporters of President Donald Trump, who was voted out of office. The attackers wanted to prevent Congress from finally confirming Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 presidential election that day.
Last week, another Proud Boys member, 32-year-old Ethan Nordean, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by Judge Kelly. Stewart Rhodes, the founder of another far-right militia involved in the storming of the US Capitol – the Oath Keepers – also received an 18-year prison sentence.
After the 2020 presidential election, Trump refused to acknowledge his defeat by Biden and made allegations of voter fraud that have been refuted many times. At noon on January 6, 2021, the Republican called on his supporters to march to the Capitol and fight “whatever the hell”. The ensuing attack on the Capitol, which left five dead, caused horror around the world and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy.
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