The Proud Boys leader who was freed from prison last month, after being pardoned by President Trump for his conviction connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, was arrested Friday at a gathering of riot defendants on the building's grounds. Enrique Tarrio was handcuffed by Capitol Police officers, taken into custody, Politico reports, and charged with assaulting a counterprotester during a press conference called by the Proud Boys leader and his allies.
About a dozen people were protesting the press conference when one of them put her hand and cellphone close to Tarrio's face while he was speaking to a journalist, per a Politico reporter who was a witness. When Tarrio, former national chairman of the Proud Boys, swiped at the protester's hand, Capitol Police officers immediately surrounded him. A police statement said officers also saw Tarrio "strike the woman's phone and arm." Another member of the Proud Boys, Joe Biggs, later texted the Hill: "Tarrio did nothing wrong. This is a set-up."
Tarrio's group, which included Oath Keepers' founder Stewart Rhodes, had just announced plans to file lawsuits over their prosecutions springing from the 2021 attack. "I'm not talking about violent retribution," Tarrio said, per the Hill. "I'm talking about something much more powerful: accountability and the rule of law." Tarrio and Rhodes were convicted of seditious conspiracy for plotting to prevent halt the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Trump to Joe Biden by force. (More Enrique Tarrio stories.)
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