Former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio’s sentencing for orchestrating the far-right extremist group’s attack on the U.S. Capitol was delayed until Sept. 5 because the trial judge was sick on Wednesday. The government is seeking a 33-year sentence for Tarrio in one of the most significant prosecutions in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. That is nearly twice the length of the longest prison term so far among the hundreds of riot prosecutions. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who is not bound by prosecutors’ recommendation, was sick and unable to preside at the hearing Wedneday, the U.S. Marshals Service said shortly before the proceeding was to begin. Tarrio had already been arrested and ordered to leave Washington by the time Proud Boys members joined thousands of Trump supporters in storming the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. But prosecutors say Tarrio organized and led the group’s assault from afar, inspiring followers with his charisma and penchant for propaganda. Tarrio was a top target in one of the most important Capitol riot cases prosecuted by the Justice Department. He and three lieutenants were convicted in May of charges including seditious conspiracy — a rarely brought Civil War-era offense that the Justice Department levied against members of far-right groups who played a key role in the Jan. 6 attack. “Using his powerful platform, Tarrio has repeatedly and publicly indicated that he has no regrets about what he helped make happen on January 6,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. The Justice Department has also recently charged Trump with conspiring to subvert American democracy, accusing the Republican of plotting in the days before the attack to overturn the results of the election that he lost. The Tarrio case — and hundreds of others like it — function as a vivid reminder of the violent chaos fueled by Trump’s lies around the election and the extent to which his false claims helped inspire right-wing extremists who ultimately stormed the Capitol to thwart the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Trump, who is the early front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, insists he did nothing wrong. His trial is set for March 4. The sentence that prosecutors have recommended for Tarrio, 39, of Miami, is nearly twice as long as the harshest punishment that has been handed down so far among Jan. 6 prosecutions. The longest prison sentence so far went to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who got 18 years for seditious conspiracy and his conviction on other charges. Kelly also was to sentence former Proud Boys chapter leader Ethan Nordean on Wednesday. Later this week, Kelly had been scheduled to sentence three other Proud Boys members who were convicted by a jury in May after a trial alongside Tarrio and Nordean. Tarrio, Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were convicted of seditious conspiracy. A fifth Proud Boys member, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges. Prosecutors also recommended prison sentences of 33 years for Biggs, 30 years for Rehl, 27 years for Nordean and 20 years for Pezzola. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, and Rehl, of Philadelphia, led local Proud Boys chapters. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Pezzola was a group member […]
The post Judge’s Illness Delays Sentencing For Ex-proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio In Jan. 6 Case appeared first on The Yeshiva World.
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