Category Archives: Proud Boys

The ReAwaken America tour, a traveling roadshow featuring self-declared Christian nationalists, rolled into Miami over the weekend, bringing some 50 speakers uniformly declaring the inevitability or necessity of a second term for former president Donald Trump. Others made more arcane promises, such as conservative podcaster Stacy Whiteds forecast of an imminent transference of wealth from the wicked to the righteous that would make those in the audience rich.

ReAwaken America events have been a hub for election deniers, conspiracy theorists and those who discuss immigration as a plot to replace us us being, by implication, White evangelical Christians.

On this score, Miami may appear to be an odd choice for the tours organizers: More than half of the citys residents were born outside the United States and more than 70 percent are Latino. Yet there is evidence that white supremacy and Christian nationalism have made their way into the Latino community in the United States, including among the most violent fringe of those movements.

The shooter who killed eight people at a mall in Allen, Tex., was identified as Mauricio Garcia, a Latino man whose online activity showed an interest in white supremacy.

Journalists found that Garcia posted photos of Nazi tattoos on his arm and torso, including a large Nazi hooked cross and the SS lightning bolt logo of Adolf Hitlers paramilitary forces. He also made references encouraging violence against women, celebrating rape and using vocabulary of the male supremacist incel, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Another prominent Latino linked to far-right groups is Enrique Tarrio, who is Afro-Cuban, and the former leader of the paramilitary group the Proud Boys who was found guilty this month of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

But these examples should not come as surprises, according to Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, who said that the spread of xenophobic prejudice and bigotry online has helped make intolerance transnational and transethnic.

Misogyny, a fascination with fascism, weapon fetishization are things that, I think, define aggressive masculinity. That cuts across a variety of ethnicities and subcultures, Levin said.

Levin also said that Latino Americans can be drawn to mainstream conservative ideas about the value of hard work and so-called family values and can come into contact with groups online that may lead them down a rabbit hole where the direction and the depth and the acceptability of aggression become more fixed.

The increasing numbers of Latinos joining Pentecostal or other evangelical churches mean that they increasingly hear messages from prosperity-gospel preachers, including those who believe Trump was ordained by God to be president.

In 2020 the Trump reelection campaign launched Evangelicals for Trump with a visit to El Rey Jesus Global, a Latino megachurch in Miami led by pastor Guillermo Maldonado. El Rey is part of the Word of Faith network, a subset of the Pentecostal movement that espouses a form of the prosperity gospel.

In his 2020 book, Prosperity Gospel Latinos and Their American Dream, sociologist and Presbyterian minister Tony Tian-Ren Lin said the prosperity gospel shows immigrants how they may thrive in a late-capitalist society.

The pursuit of Prosperity Gospel holiness is equivalent to the pursuit of the American dream, he writes.

The Rev. Elizabeth Rios, who has served as a pastor of a Pentecostal church in Florida, said she has seen Latinos embrace Christian nationalist ideas. They do think that the U.S. has a special relationship with God, and that its supposed to be a Christian country, she said.

These immigrant groups have gone from being newcomers to kind of established. They have now had some access to privileges that are associated with whiteness, she said.

Rios, who started an online and justice-oriented faith-based community in Florida, said its crucial for local churches to address Christian nationalism. The church, she said, is where Latinos get their spiritual sustenance and their identity. Its the church that can disciple people out of Christian nationalism.

The Rev. Carlos L. Malav, president of the Latino Christian National Network, said that white Christian nationalism has infiltrated many Latino Christians in such a powerful way that they are not even aware of the position they are supporting.

Some are aware, he said, and unabashed in supporting some of the tenets of this ideology.

Malavs organization is planning a summit in September to discuss how far-right ideas are popping up in Latino Christian spaces, particularly in evangelical and Pentecostal houses of worship. The gathering will be at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta and will be limited to about 60 key Latino Christian leaders from across the country.

A new survey of 6,212 Americans by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found that Americans who are supportive of Christian nationalism generally hold less favorable views of immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, and are more likely to hold negative views of Muslims and Jews.

About 65 percent of White Christian nationalism sympathizers and adherents disagree that white supremacy is still a major problem in the United States, nearly twice as high as Americans overall in the survey. Additionally, 66 percent of white Christian nationalism sympathizers and 81 percent of adherents believe in replacement theory, the view that immigrants are invading the United States to replace the countrys current culture.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that fewer than a third of Americans, or 29 percent, qualify as Christian nationalists, and of those, two-thirds define themselves as white evangelicals.

Support for Christian nationalism is significantly smaller among Asian American, mixed race, Black and Hispanic Protestants, but that shifts among those who identify as evangelical. White (29 percent), Hispanic (25 percent) and Black (20 percent) Christians who describe themselves as evangelical are each about five times as likely to be adherents of Christian nationalism as those of the same racial or ethnic groups who are Christian but not evangelical.

The Latino Christian National Network is made up of leaders of Latino ministries and denominations, including mainline Christians, evangelicals and Pentecostals, according to Malav. It was formed, he said, with an awareness that progressive and conservative faith communities alike could easily be manipulated and divided.

Malav said the September summit will look at the anti-immigrant nature of Christian nationalism and explore colonialism in Latin America and its relationship with Christian nationalism.

Others see it differently.

Tony Suarez, the chief operating officer of the evangelical National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said there are extreme ideologies that are masquerading under the guise of Christian nationalism that are dangerous.

But what is not dangerous, Suarez said, is the concept of being extremely devoted to ones faith and ones country.

Suarez said Christian nationalism is a derogatory label directed toward evangelicals like him who stand against transgender rights, who believe marriage is between a man and a woman and who are pro-life, from the womb to the tomb.

I would hope that they have some evangelicals and some people that are pro-biblical marriage, pro-life, that are at the table engaging in the conversation, he said of the summit. Otherwise, its not a true reflection of the entire Christian Latino community.

(This story was was reported with support from the Stiefel Freethought Foundation.) Religion News Service

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Latino faith leaders to gather for summit on Christian nationalism - The Washington Post

Members of the extremist groupProud Boys charged with sedition in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol want to subpoena former President Donald Trump as a witness in the high-profile trial.

Norman Pattis, one of defendant Joseph Biggs' attorneys, first informed the court of the defense's intent to call the former president to testify last month, asking for the government's assistance in serving him.When the issue was raised in court then, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly gave no indication whether he would permit the subpoena.

On Wednesday, Pattis raised the matter again and told the court his effort would be joined byattorneys for co-defendant Dominic Pezzola. Attorneys for Biggs and Pezzola did not reply to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Proud Boys trial reveal: D.C. police lieutenant warned Proud Boys leader ahead of pre-Jan. 6 arrest: trial evidence

But the effort to put Trump on the witness stand will likely face an uphill battle, as it's unclear whether Kelly will rulethe former president's testimony admissible at trial.

The Proud Boys on trial Biggs, Pezzola, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl andleader Enrique Tarrio face trial for sedition and other alleged crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, uses a megaphone to address people gathered at the Torch of Friendship to remember the one year anniversary of the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2021 in Miami, Florida.

Placingblame on Trumpfor the violent Capitol attackhas been central to the Proud Boys' defenses against numerous charges related to the riot.

Trumpsaid the election was stolen, told his supporters to go to the Capitol and unleashed the mob on Jan. 6, 2021, Sabino Jauregui, attorney for longtime Proud Boys leader Tarrio,told a D.C. jury in opening remarksin January. Tarrio, he argued,is justthe government's "scapegoat."

Too hard to blame Trump, too hard to bring him to the witness stand with his army of lawyers Instead they go for the easy target. They go for Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys," Jauregui said.

Story continues

A spokespersonfor Trump did notrespond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Opening remarks: Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio's attorney says Trump to blame for Jan. 6

Former President Donald Trump speaks to guests at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 8.

The bid is a long shot, according to Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School.

The Proud Boys attorneys would have to prove why Trump should be put on the stand an uphill battle, he said.

The defendants are being charged with their own insular criminal acts and intent to use the protest to interfere with the certification, Turley said in an email. I do not know the basis for the (defenses) claim.

The move would likely cause considerable delay to the trial, Turley added.

"The court is likely leery of such a demand," he said.

Donald Trump: Meta to reverse former President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram ban

The Proud Boys on trial are not the first Jan. 6 defendants to point the finger at the former president. In February 2022,Ohio attorney Sam Shamansky said he planned to use a "public authority defense" for his client, Jan. 6 rioter Dustin Thompson.

"Trump and his co-conspirators concocted this ridiculous lie that our election was stolenand democracy wasat stake," Shamansky told the Columbus Dispatch, part of theUSA TODAY Network, last year. Without that message, Thompson would not have journeyed to the Capitol, he said.

A month later, U.S. District JudgeReggie Waltonrejected Shamansky's bid to have Trump testify, ruling that the value of the former president's testimony is "substantially outweighed by the danger of confusing the issues and misleading the jury," according to court documents.

Subpoenaing Trump: Columbus lawyer defending client in Capitol insurrection case wants to subpoena Trump

In the sedition trial of five Oath Keepers last year, leader Stewart Rhodes' attorneys mounted a novel legal defense that reliedon an arcane and controversial interpretation of the Insurrection Act, a statute from the 19th century.

They claimedRhodes and the other Oath Keepers believed at any moment on or before Jan. 6, 2021, Trump would invoke the Insurrection Act and call upon an unorganized militia to intervene with the certification of what they considered a fraudulent election.The former president threatened to invoke the act, but never did.

Rhodes and a top deputy, Kelly Meggs, were found guilty of sedition last year.

Oath Keepers trial: A 1800s-inspired defense meets most significant Jan. 6 prosecution yet

Members of the Proud Boys, including Joe Biggs of Ormond Beach, third from right, and other right-wing demonstrators march across the Steel Bridge on Aug. 17, 2019, in Portland, Oregon. Biggs had organized an "End Domestic Terrorism" rally there as an anti-Antifa rally.

Trump and the Proud Boys came to be affiliated during a September 2020 presidential debate when the former president told the extremist group to "stand back and stand by" after being asked tocondemn violent white supremacistgroups.

The comment increased the groups membership exponentially, according to one Proud Boys member'sdeposition before a House committee that investigated the riot.

Prosecutors have pointed to those comments and Trump's Dec. 19, 2020 tweet urging supporters to travel to D.C. for a Jan. 6 rallyBe there. Will be wild, Trump wroteas evidence that the Proud Boys were galvanized by the former president's comments.

But whether a jury would find the defense's counterpoint that those comments led to the events of Jan. 6, 2021 convincing is yet to be seen, according toJon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

"When you look at the conduct of the defendants, certainly as it's been alleged, when you look at the build up, when you look at the scope of the conspiracya defense argument that would boil down effectively to 'the President told us to do it' would certainly seem to fall short," Lewis said.

'We are bigger than Jesus.': Telegram messages show how Trump's 2020 comments galvanized Proud Boys

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Proud Boys trial: Jan 6 defendants want to subpoena Trump to testify

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Proud Boys on trial for Jan. 6 riot want to subpoena Donald Trump to ...

Washington Amid numerous investigations at county, state, and local levels into his political and economic activity, former President Donald Trump finds himself at the center of a brewing legal fight, this time in the ongoing Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial.

Attorneys for one of the defendants, Joseph Biggs, briefly mentioned in court on Thursday that they had drafted, and hoped to serve, Trump with a subpoena to compel his testimony in the proceedings connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Norm Pattis, a lawyer for Biggs, told the court Trump's role in the Capitol riot might warrant his presence as a witness for the defense in the case.

According to a copy of the drafted subpoena obtained by CBS News, Biggs' legal team wants Trump's compliance by the beginning of next month, but the legal paper has yet to be served to the former president, and no attempt to actually compel his testimony has been made. If it continues to go unsuccessfully delivered, the subpoena will carry no legal weight unless further legal action is taken.

Judge Timothy Kelly presiding over the trial in which five Proud Boys, including leader Enrique Tarrio, are accused of sedition has yet to make his position on subpoenaing a former president known, but the Justice Department will likely ask the court to toss the request as irrelevant and inappropriate.

Biggs' attorneys declined a request for comment.

In the high-profile proceedings that have so far spanned numerous weeks, prosecutors have argued before the jury that the Proud Boys heeded Trump's calls to oppose Joe Biden's presidency and violently took to the Capitol grounds in support of the former president. Using their fellow rioters in the mob as a component of their broader conspiracy, the Justice Department alleges, the defendants attempted to use force to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

Defense attorneys have argued Trump's influence over the Proud Boys' alleged crimes warrants further examination.

Other Jan. 6 defendants have made similar attempts to call Trump as a witness, to no avail, after judges and prosecutors alike opposed the moves. Last year, an Ohio man tried to argue Trump's speech near the White House authorized his actions. Dustin Thompson was convicted by a jury after less than three hours of deliberation and later sentenced to three years in prison.

Like those of defendants before them, the efforts by Biggs' attorneys on Thursday face numerous legal hurdles that will likely hinder their ability to successfully secure Trump's testimony.

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Proud Boys member drafts subpoena to call Trump as a witness in Jan. 6 ...

Former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio and four allies are charged with seditious conspiracy, a plot to violently keep Trump in office anchored in part by preventing Congress from certifying the election on Jan. 6, 2021.

The prospect of Trump appearing on the witness stand seems remote, but until Thursday, the intention of the defendants to call the former president was uncertain.

Were going to ask the government for assistance in serving Mr. Trump, Pattis said.

The Proud Boys defense attorneys have hinted at times throughout the trial that Trump bears responsibility for the actions of their own clients and thousands of others who marched on the Capitol at his urging. Putting him on the witness stand, while still a longshot, would give them a chance to probe his mindset under oath in a way that federal investigators have been unable to so far.

Other Jan. 6 defendants have sought Trumps testimony but gotten no support from judges, who found their claims to need the former presidents testimony dubious. But the Proud Boys may have the clearest case, given Trumps explicit reference to the group during the debate and the groups centrality to the riot that unfolded on Jan. 6.

Prosecutors say the Proud Boys are singularly responsible for the violence that unfolded, helping trigger key breaches of police defenses including the actual breach of the building itself, when Dominic Pezzola, one of the five defendants, used a stolen riot shield to smash a Senate-wing window.

U.S. District Court Judge Tim Kelly didnt give any indication Thursday about whether he would permit the subpoena of the former president.

Tarrio has been a figure of interest to investigators not just for his role on Jan. 6 but for his ties to figures in Trumps orbit like Roger Stone. Tarrio took a White House tour on Dec. 12, 2020 that drew alarm from the Secret Service and may have reached the ears of then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Prosecutors have also shown evidence of Tarrios close relationship with a D.C. police officer who appeared to repeatedly give him inside information about law enforcement matters including Tarrios own subsequent arrest on Jan. 4 for burning a Black Lives Matter flag at a pro-Trump rally in December.

Prosecutors are expected to call North Carolina Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and is cooperating with the government to the stand on Tuesday. During arguments related to pieces of evidence the government intends to introduce, prosecutors displayed messages showing Bertino lamenting the groups failure to stop the transfer of power on the night of Jan. 6.

We failed. The House is meeting again. That woman died for nothing, Bertino said, referencing Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she attempted to breach the House chamber.

Bertino was also in a series of leadership chats ahead of Jan. 6 but didnt go to Washington in part because of injuries he suffered when he was stabbed during a melee in December.

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Proud Boys leaders facing Jan. 6 charges say they intend to subpoena ...

Delilahs Gentlemens Club bartender gets probation for storming the Capitol with aspiring Proud Boys  The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Delilahs Gentlemens Club bartender gets probation for storming the Capitol with aspiring Proud Boys - The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Capitol riot trial for Proud Boys leaders promised to be a historic showcase for some of the most compelling evidence of an alleged plot by far-right extremists to halt the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.

One month into the trial, there have been plenty of fireworks, but mostly when the jury wasn't in the courtroom.

Lawyers representing the five Proud Boys charged with seditious conspiracy have repeatedly sparred with U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly during breaks in testimony. At least 10 times, those lawyers have argued in vain for him to declare a mistrial.

The judge regularly admonishes lawyers for interrupting him and has threatened to hold them in contempt if it continues. Two defense lawyers at one point floated the idea of withdrawing from the case if Kelly did not rule in their favor on evidentiary matters.

The barrage of bickering has bogged down the proceedings in the federal courthouse, where the Capitol can be seen in the distance from some windows. One recent day in court, defense lawyer Norm Pattis compared the trial to visiting "Gilligan's Island," the title and setting of the 1960s-era sitcom about a shipwrecked boat's crew and passengers.

"It was supposed to be a three-hour tour, and people were stranded together for an infinite period while they worked out their interpersonal difficulties," Pattis quipped.

The tension in the courtroom reflects the high stakes for the Justice Department and the defendants. It's one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio is perhaps the highest profile person to be charged so far in the assault.

The Proud Boys face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of seditious conspiracy. Acquittals on the rarely used charge which strikes at the heart of what prosecutors say happened that day would be a setback in the government's Jan. 6 investigation, which continues to grow two years later.

Tarrio and four lieutenants are accused of participating in a weekslong plot to keep Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House after he defeated then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Prosecutors say it culminated with Proud Boys mounting a coordinated assault on the Capitol alongside hundreds of other Trump supporters.

Defense lawyers say there's no evidence that the Proud Boys plotted to attack the Capitol and stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6. The lawyers claim prosecutors are mischaracterizing bellicose online banter as a violent plot. They tried unsuccessfully to move the trial out of Washington, arguing that there was no way their clients could get a fair trial in front of a District of Columbia jury.

The Proud Boys trial is on a pace to last several weeks longer than last year's landmark trial for Oath Keepers group leaders and members, who were charged in a separate Jan. 6 case.

In November, a jury convicted Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and another leader of seditious conspiracy after three days of jury selection, 26 days of testimony and two days of closing arguments. A separate trial involving members of the Oath Keepers who face a slew of charges, but not seditious conspiracy also got underway this month.

Jury selection for the Proud Boys case lasted 12 days. After the trial's opening statements on Jan. 12, jurors have heard 16 days of testimony through Friday. Prosecutors are expected to rest their case in late February or early March before the defense team begins presenting testimony.

A dozen of the first 14 prosecution witnesses in the Proud Boys trial have been FBI agents and other law enforcement officials. Jurors also have heard testimony from a former Proud Boys member who cut a plea deal with prosecutors and a British documentary filmmaker who was embedded with the Proud Boys on Jan. 6.

Jurors are often kept waiting in the wings while defense lawyers challenge the admissibility of evidence. In one such exchange, Pattis urged Kelly to reconsider a ruling allowing prosecutors to introduce posts from the social media platform Parler.

"We're offering you a lifeline here because we think you erred," Pattis told the judge.

"Well, I'm offering you the lifeline of obeying my order," Kelly responded.

Kelly has frequently scolded defense lawyers for interrupting and talking over him, warning that he could find them in contempt. At one point, lawyer Nicholas Smith interrupted the judge while the judge was chastising him for an earlier interruption.

One of Tarrio's lawyers asked for a mistrial after a witness said that Tarrio had burned a Black Lives Matter banner at a protest in Washington during a December 2020 demonstration by Trump supporters.

Tarrio was arrested two days before the Jan. 6 riot, charged with vandalizing the banner and ordered to leave the city. Kelly ruled that prosecutors could discuss the vandalism, but not specific details about the banner. Prosecutors allege Tarrio remained in command of the Proud Boys on the ground on Jan. 6 even though he wasn't there.

Carmen Hernandez, a lawyer for Proud Boys chapter leader Zachary Rehl, has repeatedly moved for mistrials, including when she accused a prosecutor of using inflammatory and misleading allegations in his opening statement. Hernandez asked for a mistrial after jurors saw violent videos of Proud Boys street fighting at rallies before Jan. 6.

"It wouldn't be a day in this trial without a mistrial motion," said Kelly, who denied her request.

At least one juror may have sent a signal about the sluggish pace of the trial.

J. Daniel Hull, one of Biggs' lawyers, told the judge on Jan. 19 that he saw a juror nodding off that morning. In response, the judge told lawyers that "focusing their presentations might help that issue."

The rancor started before the jury was even sworn in.

A day before the trial started, Hernandez said she felt compelled to withdraw from the case if the judge allowed prosecutors to show a particular video as evidence. Smith, who represents Proud Boys chapter leader Ethan Nordean, followed up with a similar comment about withdrawing if the judge didn't rule in his favor on an evidentiary matter.

Pattis, a Connecticut-based lawyer who represents Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs, was briefly sidelined from the case after a judge in his home state suspended his license to practice law for six months. The decision stemmed from Pattis' handling of confidential documents during his representation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in a civil lawsuit. Kelly allowed Pattis to rejoin the trial after opening statements once an appeals court postponed his suspension.

The judge didn't bring jurors into court on Feb. 6 so the lawyers could argue about the relevance of messages that Proud Boys posted on the Telegram platform. Pattis warned that the Telegram evidence alone could add two weeks to the trial "if we're not careful."

"I jokingly told my office I hope to be home by Easter today at the rate things are going," Pattis added.

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Jan. 6 trial of Proud Boys leaders plagued by bickering between lawyers ...

Trump basically said to go fuck them up, Biggs said on Parler, the social media platform popular with conservatives. This makes me so happy.

His public comments ignited a furor among Proud Boys self-described elders its national leadership who worried that Biggs embrace of violent rhetoric could undercut the groups reputation.

Mainstream republican support hinges on what the president says about us, said Proud Boy Nicholas Ochs. Right now its good.

Trump has been a central aspect of the Proud Boys trial, a specter looming in the background as the group put itself on a path to descend on Washington and, ultimately, take a central role in the breach of the Capitol. Dozens of private chats and text chains revealed by prosecutors show how Proud Boys leaders keyed off Trumps comments and used them to both drive recruitment but also attempt to manage their growing but unruly rank-and-file.

Biggs, Enrique Tarrio the groups national chair at the time Seattle-based Proud Boy Ethan Nordean, and Philadelphia Proud Boy leader Zachary Rehl are now facing seditious conspiracy charges for their central roles in organizing hundreds of Proud Boys to descend on Washington for Jan. 6, and lead them in a march to the Capitol. A fifth defendant, New Yorks Dominic Pezzola, ignited the breach of the Capitol itself when he shattered a Senate-wing window with a stolen police riot shield.

Prosecutors say the group played a crucial role in driving waves of the pro-Trump mob toward the Capitol and then egging it on to surge past barricades and across police lines before entering the Capitol. Prosecutors intend to describe to jurors how several cells of Proud Boys, who marched with the group to the Capitol, dispersed around the Capitol and were prominent in multiple breaches that day.

On Thursday, the 17th day of the trial, prosecutors gave their clearest explanation to jurors about the groups effort to tether itself to Trumps bid to remain in power, to weed out unruly members and to develop a tactical strategy for Jan. 6. They also presented the most significant evidence yet of Tarrios embrace of a plan intended to provide a roadmap for occupying buildings in Washington on Jan. 6.

They also showed separate exchanges Tarrio had with three girlfriends about his impending trip to Washington, D.C. One of them, identified only as Eryka, described a desire to overthrow the government.

The revolution and storming the winter capital is at stake. The revolution is [more] important than anything, Eryka wrote on Dec. 30.

"[T]hats what every waking moment consists of, Tarrio replied.

Eryka then referenced that she had sent Tarrio a document titled 1776 Returns that detailed a plan to occupy federal buildings and force officials to declare a new presidential election. If you dont like my plan, let me know. I will pitch elsewhere. But I want you to be the executor and benefactor of my brilliance, she wrote, asking him not to play games with her.

Im not playing games, Tarrio responded.

Notably, the Jan. 6 select committee last year received testimony from a witness who identified Eryka as a figure in Floridas cryptocurrency community who was a mutual acquaintance of him and Tarrio. The witness, Samuel Armes, described developing some of the ideas at the heart of the 1776 Returns document months before the election as a thought exercise for potential civil unrest. Armes said Eryka appeared to have provided an altered version of that document that had been changed to refer to the 2020 election and included operational proposals.

In a Jan. 3 conversation between Tarrio and a paramour identified only as mamafe, Tarrio described the gear he was planning to take with him to Washington a kit that included a plate carrier, Baofeng radio, goggles, and other items. The woman joked with Tarrio about how her child, if hes anything like you, Im in so much trouble.

Hes gonna be like mom, Im gonna go take the Capitol and Im gonna be like, where, wheres that? Why? she said.

Tarrio replied, The Winter Palace.

Defense attorneys have long criticized the governments reliance on the 1776 Returns document to prove the alleged seditious conspiracy, noting that it doesnt call for violence rather it recommends sit-ins it doesnt explicitly mention the Capitol as a target and theres no evidence Tarrio shared it with anyone else charged in the conspiracy.

Much of Thursdays testimony focused on the groups rising alarm after Trumps defeat in the Nov. 7, 2020 presidential election.

wtf happened? They called it. Now we have to mobilize, wrote North Carolina Proud Boys leader Jeremy Bertino in a message to Tarrio on Nov. 7.

Bertino told Tarrio about a plan to have a Proud Boys presence in Raleigh the next day, and Tarrio recommended that supporters not wear the groups typical black and yellow attire: The campaign asked us to not wear colors to these events, Tarrio said, without elaborating on who he had spoken to. Keep identifying colors to a minimum.

The group would go on to have a significant presence at a November pro-Trump march in Washington D.C. and a subsequent one on Dec. 12 that turned violent. Several Proud Boys were stabbed in street clashes with counterprotesters. Bertino suffered a severe wound that landed him in the hospital.

In the days that immediately followed, the groups leaders exchanged dozens of messages lamenting the chaos and disorganization that led to group members getting hurt. Tarrio griped that the group included too many members who refused to follow orders.

This was a learning experience on how to march 1000 guys down a street, he said in a Dec. 17 chat with Proud Boys chapter presidents. I posted rules that if they would have been followed we wouldnt even be talking about it.

The internal grousing became even more urgent just two days later, when at 1:42 a.m. Trump issued a call to his supporters to make a stand in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, the day Congress was set to certify Bidens victory. Be there, will be wild, Trump tweeted.

Within 20 minutes, Tarrio and Biggs began texting about some perceptions of the group as a drinking club known for street skirmishes with left-wing protesters. Tarrio said he didnt believe the group still fit that drinking club image anymore even though the perception had lingered.

The drinking stuff helps mask and recruit, Tarrio said, Although some chapters dont leave the their [sic] bars at home.

Lets get radical and get real men, Biggs replied. And I dont mean that in a crazy wayWe need to portray a more masculine vibe.

Later the same day, after a brief text exchange, Tarrio convened a 15-minute FaceTime call with Nordean and Biggs.

Trumps calling the troops in on the 6th, Biggs said to the group a few hours later.

Amid their talks, Tarrio created a new encrypted chat channel to prepare the groups Jan. 6 plans, calling it the Ministry of Self-Defense. That channel has become a focal point of the governments investigation.

Prosecutors particularly focused on the groups use of the channel to discuss tactics for Jan. 6. Members of the group discussed a strategy to break into small teams to avoid being choked off by police blockades. They also discussed avoiding wearing the groups traditional black-and-yellow attire and a potential plan to wear all-black a tactic known as black bloc to mimic far-left protestors who have frequently clashed with Proud Boys.

The decision not to wear Proud Boys colors was an extensive subject of the groups conversation in the days before Jan. 6. Tarrio repeatedly urged different sets of Proud Boys leaders to refuse to bring any identifying gear. When some in the group pushed back, worried that the decision could result in Proud Boys getting blamed for the destruction of others, Tarrio dismissed the concern.

Misinformation is a good tool, Tarrio said in one chat with Proud Boys about the groups plan not to wear identifying black-and-yellow attire on Jan. 6. Then, after a pause, he said, Fuck Did I just goebbels this thing?

Members of the group also discussed what gear to bring to D.C. for Jan. 6, including body armor, Baofeng radios, backup phone batteries, pepper spray, stab proof vests, knuckles, goggles and Sudecon wipes, which are used to decontaminate OC spray.

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Proud Boys sedition trial shows group keying off Trump comments

I didnt hear this voice note till now, he responded on Jan. 4, 2021, with his own audio file. You want to storm the Capitol.

The Proud Boys, like any gang, have long had an internal lingo, communicating together in a kind of collective code. One of their common slogans Proud of Your Boy was adopted ironically from a song from the Broadway musical Aladdin. Another catchphrase Uhuru is the Swahili word for freedom.

On Wednesday, Conor Mulroe, a prosecutor on the case, said that the word Minecraft a reference to the popular video game appeared frequently in the Telegram chats as a cipher meaning violence.

Its a somewhat tongue-in-cheek tagline they put at the end of a statement when its a facially incriminating statement, Mr. Mulroe told Judge Timothy J. Kelly, who is overseeing the case.

On Thursday, the government showed the jury several examples of how the Proud Boys used the term.

On Oct. 6, 2020, Mr. Rehl, the president of the groups Philadelphia chapter, posted a message to the Official Presidents Chat complaining about restrictions put in place because of the pandemic.

I really hope to see people start fighting back against these tyrants, in minecraft, he wrote.

Five days before the group marched on the Capitol, Mr. Stewart used the term in response to a post about the police in Washington closing roads on Jan. 6.

Lets quit playing games and oblige them in Minecraft, he wrote.

Then, on Jan. 4, 2021 the day Mr. Tarrio was arrested after an act of vandalism at a previous pro-Trump rally in Washington Mr. Wolkind posted a message in which he seemed to be advising his fellow Proud Boys not to communicate openly about criminal activity.

If youre talkin about playing Minecraft, he wrote, you just make sure you dont use your phone at all or even have it anywhere around you.

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Four Takeaways From the Proud Boys Jan. 6 Sedition Trial So Far

Chairman of the Proud Boys

Henry "Enrique" Tarrio (US English: TAR-ee-oh, US Spanish:[tari.o]; born 1984 or 1985[2]) is an American activist, former FBI informant,[5] and convicted felon who serves as chairman of the Proud Boys,[1] a far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the United States.[6] Tarrio was indicted in June 2022 on seditious conspiracy charges, along with four other Proud Boy leaders, for his alleged role in the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[7]

Tarrio, who is of Afro-Cuban background,[8] served as the Florida state director of the grassroots organization Latinos for Trump.[9][10][11] In 2020, Tarrio was a candidate in the Republican primary election for Florida's 27th congressional district, but withdrew.[3][4][8] According to a former federal prosecutor and the transcripts of a 2014 federal court proceeding, Tarrio had previously served as an informant to both federal and local law enforcement.[12][13][14]

Tarrio volunteered at a Miami event for far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos in May 2017 when he encountered a member of the Proud Boys, who encouraged him to join the organization.[15] In August 2017, Tarrio attended the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.[16] He said he was there to protest the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials.[17]

In 2018, Tarrio became a fourth-degree member of the Proud Boys, a distinction reserved for those who get into a physical altercation "for the cause"; he punched a person who was believed to be aligned with antifa.[18] He assumed the role of chairman for the organization on November 29, 2018, succeeding Jason Lee Van Dyke, who held the position for two days, and Van Dyke's predecessor Gavin McInnes.[19][20] McInnes involved Tarrio as a prospective electoral candidate, and in that capacity both conferred with Trump right-wing confidants Steve Bannon (whom Trump later pardoned) and Sebastian Gorka.[21]

Tarrio helped organize the End Domestic Terrorism rally held in Portland, Oregon, on August 17, 2019.[22] The event, co-organized by Joe Biggs, was framed as a response to the June 2019 assault on conservative blogger Andy Ngo.[23][24]

Tarrio attended a pro-Trump march on December 12, 2020, in Washington, D.C., along with around two hundred other Proud Boys. He was arrested in connection with the march on a misdemeanor destruction of property charge related to the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a church.[25] In August 2021 he was sentenced to five months in jail for the incident and on a weapons charge.[26]

In January 2021, Reuters reported that Tarrio had been an informant to both federal and local law enforcement between 2012 and 2014.[27] This report contributed to rifts within the Proud Boys. In the aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack, chapters of the organization split with the national group. Several chapters across three states pointed to Tarrio's past as an informant as a reason for their splintering from the national organization. The Oklahoma chapter also split from the national group because of Tarrio, blaming his "failure to take disciplinary measures [which] have jeopardized our brothers' safety and the integrity of our brotherhood".[28] Tarrio himself did not participate in the attack, having been arrested two days earlier in Washington, D.C., and ordered to stay away from the city. Later, he said he would neither "support" nor "condemn" the attack and did not "sympathize" with lawmakers.[29]

After 2004, Tarrio relocated to a small town in North Florida to run a poultry farm. He later returned to Miami.[15] He has also founded a security equipment installation firm and another providing GPS tracking for companies.[15] Tarrio owns a Miami T-shirt business, known as the 1776 Shop, an online vendor for right-wing merchandise.[30][31] Slate described the 1776 Shop as a "freewheeling online emporium for far-right merch" that sells a range of Proud Boys gear including shirts stating "Pinochet did nothing wrong".[32]

In regard to his views on extremist groups and ideologies, Tarrio has been quoted as saying, "I denounce white supremacy. I denounce anti-Semitism. I denounce racism. I denounce fascism. I denounce communism and any other -ism that is prejudiced towards people because of their race, religion, culture, tone of skin."[33] In regard to his own ethnicity, he has said, "I'm pretty brown, I'm Cuban. There's nothing white supremacist about me."[16]

After Tarrio confronted and shouted expletives at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Coral Gables in late 2018, the chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Party apologized and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio compared the disruptors to the "repudiation mobs Castro has long ago used in Cuba."[34]

In 2018, Twitter removed Tarrio's account, along with others related to the Proud Boys, citing how platform policy prohibited accounts related to violent extremist groups. The following year, Twitter detected and removed another account that Tarrio created to evade the suspension.[35]

Tarrio said he is a close friend of Roger Stone,[10] a Trump ally who is a high-profile Proud Boys supporter.[30] After Stone was arrested in January 2019, Tarrio appeared outside the courtroom in a shirt emblazoned with the message "Roger Stone did nothing wrong".[36] The two appeared in a video together made on December 11, 2020, the day before a "Stop the Steal" rally where Tarrio stood on stage with Stone.[37] On December 23, 2020, Trump pardoned Stone, whose prison sentence he had previously commuted.[38]

Tarrio began a run for Congress for Florida's 27th district in 2020, but withdrew before the Republican Party primary. In his campaign's responses to a Ballotpedia survey done in 2019, Tarrio listed criminal justice reform, protection of the Second Amendment, countering domestic terrorism, ending the war on drugs, free speech on digital platforms, and immigration reform among his priorities.[3]

In 2004, when he was 20 years old, Tarrio was convicted of theft. He was sentenced to community service and three years of probation and was ordered to pay restitution.[15]

In 2013, Tarrio was sentenced to 30 months (of which he served 16) in federal prison for rebranding and reselling stolen diabetes test strips.[39][40][41]

According to a January 2021 Reuters report, between 2012 and 2014 Tarrio had been an informant to both federal and local law enforcement; in a 2014 federal court hearing, Tarrio's lawyer said that Tarrio had been a "prolific" cooperator who had assisted the government in the investigation and prosecution of more than twelve people in cases involving anabolic steroids, gambling, and human smuggling; had helped identify three "grow houses" where marijuana was cultivated; and had repeatedly worked undercover to aid in investigations. Tarrio denied working undercover or cooperating with prosecutions, but the court transcript contradicted the denial, and the former federal prosecutor in the proceeding against Tarrio confirmed that he cooperated.[42][43]

On January 4, 2021, Tarrio was arrested by Washington, D.C. police and charged with one misdemeanor count of destruction of property in connection with the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a Washington, D.C. church during a pro-Trump march on December 12, 2020, that drew around 200 Proud Boys. Tarrio acknowledged that he had burned the banner, but denied that the act was a hate crime.[25][44] A statement released by African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was one of two historically Black churches in D.C. targeted on December 12, said that the church had sued Tarrio and the Proud Boys organization.[45][46] Tarrio was also charged with two felony counts of possession of a high capacity feeding device after two high-capacity firearms magazines were found on Tarrio when he was arrested.[47][48] His request to be allowed to have Bevelyn Beatty, a Black Christian activist who was herself accused of defacing a Black Lives Matter mural, to testify for him as a character witness was summarily denied.[21] As a condition of his release on bail on January 5, 2021, Tarrio was banned from entering Washington except for trial or meeting with his lawyers.[49][50][51]

The FBI later said they had arrested Tarrio in an attempt to prevent the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[42]On July 19, 2021, Tarrio pleaded guilty to a destruction of property charge and a reduced charge of attempting to possess a high-capacity ammunition feeding device.[52][53]

On August 23, 2021, Tarrio received a 155-day prison sentence,[54] more than the 90 days requested by Department of Justice prosecutors.[55] Tarrio began serving his sentence on September 6, 2021.[55] His November 2021 request for early release based on poor living conditions in the D.C. Jail was denied.[56]

By November 2021, at least two dozen Proud Boys members and affiliates had been indicted for their alleged roles in the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[57][58][59] Tarrio and the Proud Boys were subpoenaed by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in November 2021 relating to the organization's alleged involvement.[60]

In March 2022, Tarrio was indicted on a conspiracy charge by the Justice Department for his involvement in organizing the January 6 attack.[61] On June 6, 2022, the Justice Department announced that Tarrio and four other members had been indicted on more serious seditious conspiracy charges.[62][63]

On December 19, 2022, the trial of Tarrio and four co-defendants began after U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly denied defense attorneys last-minute bid to delay jury selection.[64][65]

Henry Tarrio was born in 1984 or 1985 and raised Catholic in Little Havana, a neighborhood in Miami, Florida.[34][2][66][1][67] Tarrio is of Cuban heritage and identifies as Afro-Cuban.[15][11] He is divorced.[15]

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Enrique Tarrio - Wikipedia

In federal court this week, a former Proud Boy who flipped on his alleged co-conspirators testified to increasingly violent conversations among the far-right group's members leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Matthew Greene of Syracuse, New York, took the stand in Washington on Tuesday in the trial of the former leader of the Proud Boys and four associates who are each accused of seditious conspiracy against the United States, among other charges, as part of an alleged plot to disrupt the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

Enrique Tarrio, the ex-leader, and Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola have all pleaded not guilty.

In his testimony, Greene said that in the weeks before Jan. 6, 2021, the group had been trying to stir up violent interactions with those they believed to be part of an "antifa," or anti-fascist, group.

"We, as the Proud Boys, almost viewed ourselves as the foot soldiers of the right, whereas antifa were the foot soldiers of the left," Greene said.

After Biden defeated Donald Trump to become president, the Proud Boys were "more and more angry about the result of the election," Greene said, "and at that point I was pretty well convinced we were heading toward a civil war."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson questioned Greene about his first interactions with the Proud Boys as he described the group's recruiting process, including an online application and in-person vetting. Greene's cooperation appears to be critical as prosecutors seek to prove that the Proud Boys were more than a loosely organized drinking club, as defense attorneys have argued.

Greene was arrested in April 2021 and initially pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and obstruction of Congress, but he changed his plea about eight months later -- after striking a deal with prosecutors.

Proud Boys members Zachary Rehl, left, and Ethan Nordean, left, walk toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump, Jan. 6, 2021. Nordean and Joseph Biggs, two of the four Proud Boys charged in an indictment.

Carolyn Kaster/AP, FILE

On the stand on Tuesday, Greene acknowledged he was upset about the results of the 2020 presidential election and said he was looking for like-minded people to share his political concerns. But the events of Jan. 6 were a wakeup call, he said.

"After everything that happened [on Jan. 6], I had kind of a slap in the face," he told the jury.

He denied having direct knowledge of alleged plans to riot by Proud Boys leadership. Defense attorneys said he was not part of group messages used by leadership and had no direct interactions with Rehl or Tarrio.

But prosecutors argued that Greene had personal interactions with several Proud Boys members on multiple occasions. Greene testified to a culture of violence and said Tarrio and Pezzola were present at times when they discussed using force on Jan. 6.

"I can't say it was ever overtly encouraged," Greene said. "But it was never discouraged, and when it happened, it was celebrated."

Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, stands outside of the Hyatt Regency where the Conservative Political Action Conference is being held, Feb. 27, 2021, in Orlando, Fla.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

On cross-examination, Greene acknowledged he never had a direct conversation with Biggs, Tarrio or Nordean but described a collective expectation among members of the group that violence was permissible.

Defense attorneys have vigorously objected to the use of Greene's testimony at trial, saying he was making broad assumptions about the defendants based on irrelevant interactions with other members.

"It's just mind-boggling that this person -- for the court's understanding -- who says he knows nothing about nothing about nothing all of a sudden he says he has all this information," defense attorney Carmen Hernandez said Tuesday.

Multiple defendants said allowing his testimony should result in a mistrial, a motion that U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly denied.

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Former Proud Boy testifies in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy trial