Four Proud Boy leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy are among hundreds of Capitol rioters who will go free thanks to pardons and sentence commutations delivered by newly inaugurated president Donald Trump.
Enrique Tarrio, who was the leader of extreme right at the time of the insurrection four years ago, had been sentenced to 22 years in prison, the longest sentence ever imposed on a January 6. He obtained a pardon. His co-defendants Zachary Rehl, Joseph Biggs and Ethan Nordean, who had previously been sentenced to 15, 17 and 18 years, had their sentences commuted and were released Monday.
Tarrio’s mother, Zuny Duarte, told WIRED that Enrique will be back in Miami on Tuesday at 3 p.m. He is serving his sentence in a federal prison in Pollock, Louisiana.
Trump issued 14 sentence commutations and granted blanket pardons to everyone else convicted in the Capitol riot. In total, approximately 1,580 people have been charged with crimes related to January 6.
“These people have been destroyed, what they did to these people is outrageous, there has rarely been anything like this in the history of this country,” Trump said of January 6 from the Oval Office. He also floated conspiracy theories that “outside agitators” and the FBI were somehow responsible for the violence that unfolded on January 6. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, also had his sentence commuted and will be released.
Trump had teased the new pardons during his event Monday at Capital One Arena, promising an imminent release of the “J6 hostages.”
“Ooh, you’ll be happy to read the papers tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow,” he said.
Reached by phone earlier Monday, Duarte told WIRED they were waiting for Enrique to be released. “The guys are excited and think justice is finally going to come to us,” Duarte said. “Donald Trump knows what it’s like to be on the side of the people being prosecuted and the unfair side of things.”
When asked if Tarrio was still involved with the Proud Boys, Duarte said, “That’s a question you have to ask him when he’s away.”
Before Trump even put ink to paper, news that correctional facilities were beginning to process requests to release inmates from Jan. 6 had begun spreading online. Social media accounts linked to the Proud Boys were jubilant, and Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, declared “Party for the Boys” during a live broadcast of his show while collecting donations for support the released gang members.
As a first day act, it was a surprisingly symbolic one. Four years ago, on January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters, galvanized by conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, came to Washington and laid siege to the Capitol in an effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power . The horrific scenes resulted in five people being killed, more than 140 police officers injured and Trump leaving Washington in disgrace.
A few weeks later, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States behind riot barriers, barbed wire and under the eyes of more than 25,000 National Guard troops.