The former national chairman of the far-right group the Proud Boys has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for his involvement in the events surrounding the attack on the US Capitol in Washington on January 6th, 2021.
At a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Enrique Tarrio received the longest jail term so far given to anyone on foot of the wide-ranging investigation into the assault on the Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump.
Lawyers for Tarrio said they would appeal against the sentence.
Tarrio was one of four members of the Proud Boys who were found guilty on seditious conspiracy charges by a jury last May.
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US district judge Timothy Kelly said of January 6th: “The day broke our previously unbroken tradition of peacefully transferring power. What happened that day damaged an important American custom that helps support the rule of law and the constitution.”
Prosecutors had recommended that Tarrio should go to prison for 33 years. But the judge said he was not going to impose as long a sentence as that.
At the sentencing hearing on Tuesday prosecutors argued that Tarrio was “the leader of this conspiracy”.
Tarrio told the court in evidence that he was sorry for the events that took place on January 6th. He said he was not a “political zealot” and praised police officers on duty at the Capitol on that day for their bravery.
He said he would disavow politics after leaving prison and wanted only to return to his family, get married and lead a productive life. He described January 6th as “a national embarrassment” and said what happened was not acceptable. He said his hubris had convinced him he was a victim.
Tarrio’s mother and sister addressed the court, seeking leniency.
Tarrio was not present at the Capitol on the day of the attack as he had been banned from the city by a court on foot of an incident at a previous demonstration in Washington in which a Black Lives Matter flag was torn from a church and burned.
Prosecutors said Tarrio had helped direct the January 6th attack from Baltimore in Maryland and had recruited others to take part in the assault on the Capitol aimed at keeping Mr Trump in power.
Tarrio’s lawyers had asked for a substantially shorter sentence than that sought by prosecutors – no more than 15 years.
Judge Kelly last week sentenced another Proud Boys leader, Ethan Nordean, to 18 years, less than the 27 years prosecutors had sought.
Stewart Rhodes, the founder of another right-wing group, the Oath Keepers, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy in a separate case earlier this year, had also received 18 years in prison.
More than 1,100 people have been arrested on charges related to the Capitol assault, and of those at least 630 have pleaded guilty and at least 110 have been convicted at trial.
Five people, including a police officer, died during or shortly after the riot and more than 140 police officers were injured. The Capitol suffered millions of dollars in damage.
