Tarrio and others had a nine-page plan to occupy key buildings on Capitol Hill on January 6, prosecutors say.
Enrique Tarrio, the previous high chief of the right-wing US group the Proud Boys, pleaded not responsible on Tuesday to legal expenses accusing him of conspiring to dam Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory upfront of final 12 months’s assault on the US Capitol.
Tarrio’s lawyer entered the not responsible plea on his behalf throughout a digital listening to within the US District Courtroom for the District of Columbia. The choose introduced a postponement within the deliberate begin to his trial.
Tarrio, 38, is likely one of the most high-profile of the greater than 775 individuals criminally charged for his or her roles within the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump on the day Congress convened to certify Biden’s victory.
Tarrio and different members of the Proud Boys are charged with conspiring to dam the certification. Movies present the handfuls of members of the group had been among the many first to breach the barricades across the Capitol after which enter the constructing.
Whereas Tarrio was not current on the time of the assault, prosecutors have alleged he had an energetic management position behind the scenes.
Tarrio had been arrested in Washington, DC, two days earlier than the riot and was charged with vandalising a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church throughout a protest in December 2020. He was ordered to go away the town.
However the day earlier than the Capitol was attacked, Tarrio met the Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and others in an underground parking storage for roughly half-hour to speak in regards to the US Capitol, prosecutors have stated.
Rhodes and different Oath Keepers militia members have additionally been charged with seditious conspiracy in reference to the January 6 assault.
Throughout Tuesday’s listening to, US District Decide Timothy Kelly granted a request by the federal government to postpone the trial date for Tarrio.
Tarrio was added final month as a co-defendant within the Division of Justice’s case towards Proud Boys leaders, and prosecutors indicated then that they might file further expenses.
With a packed trial schedule forward for the courtroom, each due to the variety of instances and delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, Decide Kelly stated he was holding off on deciding on a brand new date till legal professionals within the case can consult with each other. He stated he would schedule a listening to for April 21 to hopefully finalise a brand new trial date.
On January 6, 2021, Trump had given a fiery speech to a crowd of hundreds of his supporters at a rally close to the White Home. Trump claimed – with out credible proof – the 2020 election had been stolen by way of fraud and he urged his supporters to march on the Capitol.
In line with Tarrio’s indictment, on December 30, 2020, an unnamed particular person despatched him a doc that laid out plans for occupying just a few “essential buildings” in Washington, DC, on January 6, together with Home and Senate workplace buildings across the Capitol.
The nine-page plan was entitled, “1776 Returns” and referred to as for having as “many individuals as attainable” to “present our legislators We the Individuals are in cost”, the indictment stated.
“The revolution is [sic] necessary than something,” the particular person stated.
“That’s what each waking second consists of … I’m not enjoying video games,” Tarrio responded, in line with the indictment.