WASHINGTON — Enrique Tarrio and four other members of the Proud Boys have been indicted by a federal grand jury on new seditious conspiracy charges related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Tarrio, who has twice been ordered detained pending trial, faces a superseding indictment along with Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. Tarrio was previously charged in a conspiracy case.
The indictment alleges that Tarrio was aware of discussions around a plan to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and was involved in discussions about occupying buildings, including Capitol complex buildings.
Members of the right-wing Oath Keepers organization were previously indicted on seditious conspiracy charges. The new indictment marks the first time the charges have been brought against members of the Proud Boys. The superseding indictment notes that Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes, the former head of the Oath Keepers, met in an underground garage on Jan. 5.
Tarrio communicated with a person about a plan to occupy "crucial buildings" in Washington, including House and Senate office buildings, with "as many people as possible" to "show our politicians We the People are in charge." Tarrio told the person he was "not playing games," the indictment alleges. The person was not named.
Proud Boy members further discussed storming the Capitol in an online chat, the indictment alleges.
"What would they do [if] 1 million patriots stormed the capital building. Shoot into the crowd? I think not," another person, described as "Person 3" in the indictment, wrote in a chat on Jan. 3. "They would do nothing because they can do nothing."
The indictment also offers new details about what Tarrio was doing on Jan. 6 by including new messages that he exchanged with an unnamed person that night.
“Brother. You know we made this happen... I’m so proud of my country today,” the unnamed person wrote, according to the indictment.
“I know,” Tarrio replied.
The unnamed person then responds with "1776" — a reference to the U.S. Revolution — and a profanity.
“The Winter Palace,” Tarrio responded, referring to the Russian revolution, according to the indictment.
“Dude. Did we just influence history?” the person responded later, before Congress had returned to certify the election results.
“Let’s first see how this plays out,” Tarrio replied, according to the indictment.
