On Tuesday, Enrique Tarrio, the former commander of the extreme-right Proud Boys militia, was sentenced to 22 years in jail for his role in the 2021 attack on the US capital, the harshest punishment handed down thus far.
“That day broke our previously unbroken tradition of peacefully transferring power,” US District Judge Timothy Kelly said during a nearly four-hour sentencing hearing in the nation’s capital.
Prosecutors had sought a 33-year prison term for Tarrio, who was not in Washington on January 6, 2021 but was accused of directing the military-style assault on the Capitol by members of the Proud Boys.
Tarrio, 39, and seven other Proud Boys members were convicted of seditious conspiracy in May for their roles in an attempt to prevent congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory against Donald Trump.
Judge Kelly sentenced another Proud Boys member, Ethan Nordean, 32, to 18 years in prison last week.
Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, another far-right group essential to the Capitol siege, was sentenced to 18 years in jail earlier this year.
