"That day, American democracy itself was attacked, and Enrique Tarrio was the absolute leader behind that attack."
With these reasons, a court sentenced to 22 years in prison, the heaviest sentence so far for the assault on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, the head of the American extremist group of the Proud Boys, born in 1984, from Miami, Enrique Tarrio.
Tarrio did not personally participate in the revolt, but for the prosecution he was the mastermind of one of the darkest days for the United States. He had arrived in Washington two days earlier when he was stopped by police with two high-capacity rifle magazines. In December he had participated in a demonstration in favor of Donald Trump and had burned a banner of the Black Lives Matter movement.
"Seditious conspiracy is a very serious crime," the district judge said when reading the sentence.
«I have had many opportunities to avoid all of this and my greatest regret is the damage inflicted on others», so Tarrio reading a written statement. “I am ashamed and will have to live with this shame for the rest of my life. My hubris made me believe I was a victim. I'm not a fanatic. Doing damage or changing the result of the vote were not my goals.
At the end of August, other leaders of the group who had actively participated in the assault were convicted. Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl at 17 and 15; 10 years to Dominic Pezzola, the perpetrator of one of the most infamous acts of the attack, when he smashed a Senate window with a riot shield stolen from an officer and then lit a victory cigar on the Capitol, and 18 years to a fourth executive of the Proud Boys, 33-year-old Ethan Nordean.
(Unioneonline/D)
