7 May 18-24, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | Milo Yiannopoulos to the End Domestic Ter- ror Rally in Portland organized by Tarrio’s fellow Florida Proud Boy Joseph Biggs. Tarrio meanwhile raked in revenue run- ning the “1776.shop” online merch site, which sold politically charged T-shirts and custom engravings on coins and gun magazines. He buddied up with Republican political opera- tive Roger Stone, who enlisted the Proud Boys for help with Stone’s media campaigns. The murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, along with tension over COVID-19 lock- downs, created a powder keg political envi- ronment in which Tarrio and the Proud Boys thrived. Messages from local Proud Boys Telegram chats showed that members geared up for and reveled in violent confrontations that were escalating around the country. In August 2020, a vicious brawl erupted at the Back the Blue Rally in Portland during which a Proud Boys-affiliated militant orga- nizer, Alan Swinney, sprayed people with bear mace, brandished a firearm, and se- verely injured a man by shooting him in the eye with a paintball gun. At a presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden the following month, when moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump whether he would disavow violent far-right militia groups, Trump uttered the famous words, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” That year, Tarrio filed to run for U.S. Con- gress, but his campaign raised little money and promptly fizzled out. Following Trump’s defeat, Tarrio and other high-level Proud Boys became progressively more agitated, disillusioned, and resolved to take a militant stand against the government. “The media constantly accuses us of want- ing to start a civil war. Careful what the fuck you ask for. We don’t want to start one… but we will sure as fuck finish one,” Tarrio posted on November 6, 2020, according to federal court documents. On November 25 that year, as election fraud conspiracies swirled, Tarrio purport- edly posted that the American people are “at war” with Joe Biden. “No Trump. No Peace. No Quarter,” the post stated. Flag Nabber Two days before the January 6 insurrection, Tarrio was arrested and charged with one misdemeanor count of destruction of prop- erty for burning a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a historic Black church in Wash- ington, D.C. The incident was part of a wave of protests in support of Trump following his loss in the 2020 presidential election. Proud Boy mem- bers stole the banner from Asbury United Methodist Church on December 12, 2020. Tarrio also faced weapons charges after police discovered two high-capacity firearm magazines in his possession at the time of his arrest. After pleading guilty to two charges, Tar- rio was sentenced to 155 days in a Washing- ton, D.C., jail in August 2021. “Mr. Tarrio did not care,” Judge Harold Cushenberry said during a hearing. “That’s what I think. He cared about himself and self- promotion.” Tarrio learned his fate as he sat inside his studio in Westchester. He appeared unfazed by the news while family in the other room burst into tears upon hearing his sentence. “Like Jeffrey Epstein, I’m not going to kill myself in jail,” Tarrio told New Times follow- ing his sentencing. Fecal Encounters Just two months into his five-month sen- tence, Tarrio filed an emergency motion ask- ing to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement in Miami because of “hor- rendous conditions” inside D.C. Central De- tention Center. He said he had to deal with poop- filled water flooding his cell, guards slamming him into concrete walls, and the constant smell of burning toilet paper that fellow detainees use to light cigarettes. “For the past four days, I’ve had water and feces in my cell, and the of- ficers don’t give me a way to clean that. I’ve had to clean other people’s feces with my own toilet paper,” Tarrio said in his hearing before Judge Jonathan Pittman. At the hearing, Tarrio appeared starkly different in his orange jumpsuit and glasses in place of his typical black and yellow Proud Boy uniform and black aviator sunglasses. He described how he spent his first month in sol- itary confinement — 23 hours per day in his cell — although D.C. Department of Correc- tions maintained he was placed in protective custody for his safety. His mother compared her son’s experi- ence to a “ride in hell.” “He likes to be around people,” she told New Times. “He’s a talker. And in one hour, you don’t have time to shower, use the phone for fifteen minutes, and wait fifteen minutes for a second phone call. There’s no time for anything.” Vice City Infighting Notwithstanding his plea for compassionate release, the former far-right leader had to stick it out in jail for a few more months. Tarrio did not receive sympathy from members of Miami’s Vice City Proud Boys, the chapter he founded in 2018. The group disavowed their former leader and frequently called him a rat after Reuters uncovered Tar- rio had worked as an informant for federal law enforcement following his arrest in 2012. “Enrique Tarrio planned January 6. Why do you think he got taken out the day before and was saying what to do from the side- lines,” read a message from the Vice City Proud Boys Telegram chat. “He is now at it again and filed a motion for early release to snitch on more people. Don’t know what his hurry is to get out. He is safer in that fucking rat cage than coming back to Miami.” The infighting forced Tarrio to form a new chapter called Villain City. New Times previ- ously reported the Vice City faction was no longer recognized by the national Proud Boys organization and was removed from its offi- cial list of chapters in the state despite operat- ing under the Proud Boys title, rules, and bylaws. “1776 Returns” Less than two months after he was released from jail for the flag-stealing charge, Tarrio was arrested in Miami and charged with seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. “On Jan. 6, the defendants directed, mobi- lized, and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol, leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruc- tion of property, and assaults on law enforce- ment,” prosecutors alleged. The feds claimed Tarrio was at the center of the plot and met with other far-right groups to coordinate the siege. At one point, he traveled to an under- ground parking garage, where he met with militia group Oathkeepers’ founder Stewart Rhodes and other far-right figures on the eve of the January 6 attack, prosecutors alleged. Tarrio watched the Capitol Hill riots from afar, sidelined by his January 4 arrest. But the feds maintained that he stayed in contact with high-ranking Proud Boys as they stormed the Capitol. The blueprint for the siege was drawn partly from a document that Tarrio allegedly received from his purported romantic interest, Miami cryptocurrency maven Eryka Gemma Flores. (Gemma was not charged in the case.) The document “1776 Returns” outlined a plan to storm government buildings around the Capitol, including the House and Senate office buildings and the U.S. Supreme Court. Tarrio was charged alongside defendants Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Florida; Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Washington; Zachary Rehl of Philadelphia; and Dominic Pezzola of Rochester, New York. In correspondence with a Proud Boys member the day of the siege, prosecutors claim, Tarrio sent messages stating, “Make no mistake... We did this.” [email protected] Enrique Tarrio standing outside the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts during the Democratic Debate on June 26, 2019. Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg TARRIO BECAME THE NEW FACE OF THE PROUD BOYS AFTER BEING SELECTED AS CHAIRMAN OF THE ORGANIZATION IN 2018.
