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Proud Boys Leader Accused Of Planning Attack on Capitol
A jury accused former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio of planning an attack on the US Capitol. Tarrio was seen joining other far-right group leaders in a meeting discussing a plan.
This is the potential link that government prosecutors are looking for that answers a crucial question. Was the January 6 Capitol riots a spur-of-the-moment event? Or, was it part of a plan organized in advance?
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Is Proud Boys Former Chairman A Key Player in Riots?
Seamus Hughes is the deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. He noted that more details on the Capitol Riots are coming out after a year.
“This is the furthest the U.S. government has ever gone in arguing there was specific planning. Now we have a clearer picture than we’ve ever had, more than a year later,” he said.
Tarrio is currently indicted for wearing tactical gear to stage protests and disrupt the electoral vote count. Other members of the Proud Boys are also being charged for the same offense.
Prosecutors say that the group’s members were among the first to fight past the barricades around the Capitol. Later, they managed to force their way into the House.
New Indictments Includes New Details
The revised indictment against the Proud Boys leader contains new details. A Proud Boys leader sent a message to a private group. I am assuming most of the protest will be at the capital building given what’s going on inside.”
After ten days, Tarrio received a nine-page document entitled “1776 returns”. The document outlined a plan to occupy the House and Senate office buildings near the Capitol.
The Proud Boys' discussions later shifted to the Capitol itself. “On January 3, as efforts to plan for January 6 intensified,” the document wrote. “Tarrio stated … that he wanted to wait until January 4 to make final plans.”
‘You Want To Storm the Capitol?’
The new evidence also featured an unidentified man’s voice message to the Proud Boys group. The message said, “The main operating theater should be out in front of the house of representatives … based around the front entrance to the Capitol building”.
Tarrio replied to the voice message. “I didn’t hear this voice note until now, you want to storm the Capitol,” the indictment says.
Prosecutors claim that the Proud Boys led rioters to the January 6 Capitol riot. They were part of the group that charged past police barricades. One Proud Boy used a riot shield to break a window. Later, rioters used this window to enter the building.
Tarrio Nowhere in Washington DC During Capitol Riot
Tarrio was not present during the actual January 6 riots. Consequently, prosecutors did not charge him for joining the rioters.
Two days earlier, police arrested the Proud Boys leader and charged them with burning a banner last December 12. Police released him from custody on January 5 and ordered him to leave Washington DC.
Before he left, Tarrio allegedly met with Elmer Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers. The Oath Keepers is also a conservative group that supported former president Donald Trump.
Other far-right groups also attended the meeting. One of them allegedly made references to the Capitol.
Watch the FOX 13 Seattle video reporting that Proud Boys leader charged with conspiracy in Capitol riot:
Loading ...What do you think will happen to this investigation? Will this actually amount to anything?
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