Crime & Justice

Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Leaves Jail a Month Early

BACK IN TOWN

The far-right leader told a Miami outlet he planned to start a new organization focused on “political activism” once he left jail.

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Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Four months into his five-month jail sentence, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is a free man. The far-right gang leader, and frequent informant to law enforcement, reported to jail in September after he was convicted of burning a “Black Lives Matter” flag outside a D.C. church and carrying two high-capacity firearms magazines. Tarrio told the Miami New Times that he plans to “organize the mess in South Florida’s Proud Boys” before eventually starting a new organization focused on “political activism.” Tarrio was arrested in D.C. two days before the Capitol riot, admitting to The Washington Post that he did steal and burn the flag. He later tried to get his sentence reduced over his judge’s alleged conflict of interest, but his Hail Mary appeal failed—although not before he claimed to accept responsibility in court. “What I did was wrong,” he told Judge Harold Cushenberry. Tarrio left custody on Friday wearing a t-shirt that said “FREE THE PROUD BOYS BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.”

Read it at Miami New Times