Proud boy leaders walk free after Trump releases all rebels on January 6

Four Proud Boy leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy are among the hundreds of Capitol rioters set to walk free following pardons and commutations issued by newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.

Enrique Tarrio, who was the leader of the far-right gang at the time of the uprising four years ago, had been sentenced to 22 years behind bars – the longest sentence anyone on January 6 has received. He was granted a pardon. His co-defendants Zachary Rehl, Joseph Biggs and Ethan Nordean, who were previously sentenced to 15, 17 and 18 years in prison, had their sentences commuted and were ordered released starting Monday.

Tarrio’s mother Zuny Duarte told WIRED that Enrique will be back in Miami at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. He is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Pollock, Louisiana.

Trump issued 14 sentence commutations and issued blanket pardons for all other people convicted in connection with the Capitol riot. About 1,580 people in total were charged with crimes related to January 6.

“These people have been destroyed, what they’ve done to these people is outrageous, it’s rare in the history of this country,” Trump said of the Jan. 6-ers from the Oval Office. He also floated conspiracy theories that “outside agitators” and the FBI were somehow responsible for the violence that unfolded on January 6. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, also had his sentence commuted and will walk free.

Trump had teased the incoming pardons from his event earlier Monday at Capital One Arena, promising an imminent release of “J6 hostages.”

“Oh, you’ll be glad to read the papers tomorrow and the next day and the next day,” he said.

Reached by phone earlier Monday, Duarte told WIRED they were awaiting Enrique’s release. “The guys are excited and believe that justice will finally come to us,” Duarte said. “Donald Trump knows what it’s like to be on the side of the accused and on the wrong side of things.”

Asked if Tarrio was still involved with the Proud Boys, Duarte replied, “That’s a question you’ll have to ask him when he’s out.”

Before Trump had even put ink to paper, news that the Department of Corrections had begun processing Jan. 6-ers for release had begun to trickle online. Social media accounts linked to the Proud Boys were jubilant and Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, declared “Party for the Boys” on a live stream of his show while collecting donations to support released members of the gang.

As a first-day act, it was a wonderfully symbolic one. Four years ago, on January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters, encouraged by conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, came to DC and besieged the Capitol with the goal of preventing a peaceful transfer of power. The ugly scenes culminated in the death of five people, left more than 140 police officers injured and Trump left Washington in disgrace.

Weeks later, Joe Biden was sworn in as America’s 46th president behind riot barriers, barbed wire and under the eyes of more than 25,000 National Guard troops.