One of the most dangerous people convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots is asking for a pardon from Donald Trump.
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the fascist Proud Boys organization, was convicted for seditious conspiracy for helping to orchestrate the attack on Congress during the certification of the 2020 presidential election and sentenced to 22 years in prison, the longest of any January 6 defendant.
Tarrio made a request for a pardon through his lawyer Nayib Hassan, who wrote a letter to the Department of Justice which was posted to X Monday morning by his mother, Zuny Tarrio.
In 2023, federal prosecutors described Tarrio as the main force behind bringing hundreds of Proud Boys to Washington in 2021 to protest the election results and march to the Capitol building. Several of the organization’s leaders were the first rioters to break into the Capitol, including one lieutenant, Dominic Pezzola.
Trump has repeatedly promised to pardon rioters involved in the attacks, even hiring one for his transition team, but has also said that some rioters were “out of control” and may still face consequences. However, as the leader of the Proud Boys at the time, Tarrio is arguably the most extreme of the defendants, and pardoning him would show that Trump wants to reward the insurrectionists rather than make a token gesture to his supporters.
The post One of the Worst January 6 Offenders Wants a Pardon appeared first on New Republic.
