On anniversary of U.S. Capitol attack, Proud Boys ex-leader asks Trump for pardon

Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, lights a protective face mask on fire during a rally in support of President Donald Trump in Atlanta, in 2020. | BLOOMBERG

by NATHAN LAYNE AND JAMES OLIPHANI
January 7, 2025

WASHINGTON – Four years after supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to thwart certification of the 2020 election result, a mastermind of the effort, Enrique Tarrio, on Monday asked Trump for a full pardon for his actions.

Tarrio, a former leader of the Proud Boys far-right militant group, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for helping to direct the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that resulted in injuries to more than 140 police officers and five deaths.

The request, in a letter, came through Tarrio’s lawyer, Nayib Hassan of Miami, two weeks before Trump is due to return to the White House. Trump has said he will consider pardoning many of those convicted in connection with the breach of the Capitol that day, perhaps as early as his first day in office.