Enrique Henry Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, recently received a 22-year prison sentence for his involvement in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. However, his mother, Zuny Duarte Tarrio, insists on her son’s innocence and claims that his sentence is excessive. In a news conference held in Miami, she referred to Tarrio as a pawn for the government and labeled the case against him as a witch hunt. Duarte Tarrio explained that the family has already expended a significant amount of money on legal fees to defend her son against charges of playing a key role in the violent attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Duarte Tarrio implored supporters to donate to an online legal defense fund to assist Tarrio, who served as the Proud Boys’ national chairman at the time of the Capitol riot. Tarrio’s attorney, Nayib Hassan, stated that they plan to appeal the sentence, with the expectation of filing it on Monday or Tuesday. He did not specify the exact grounds for the appeal but highlighted potential issues with the trial’s venue in Washington, D.C.
Notably, Tarrio was not present in Washington, D.C., on the day of the Capitol attack, as his mother emphasized during the news conference. He had been ordered by a judge to stay away after being arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter flag belonging to a Black church and found to be in possession of high-capacity gun magazines. Prosecutors argued that Tarrio directed Proud Boy members from a distance as the mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, resulting in the deaths of seven individuals. According to indictments, Tarrio and his colleagues established a Ministry of Self Defense and exchanged numerous encrypted text messages discussing their 1776 Returns plan to storm the Capitol and initiate a revolution. While Tarrio watched the events unfold on a television in a Baltimore hotel room, prosecutors claimed that he messaged other members saying he was enjoying the show.
Despite Tarrio’s mother defending his innocence, the court found him guilty of seditious conspiracy in May, leading to his lengthy prison sentence—a record-setting term for any defendant involved in the January 6th insurrection. As his legal team prepares to appeal the sentence, further developments in this high-profile case are expected.
