Tarrio Proud 5
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MERRI OK
IN BIG JAN 6 PARDON; NOT CONVICTED OF SEDITION?
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OMFG XO
MSN = FOX?!
NO LNX
A Trump-appointed federal judge on Friday reluctantly dismissed the Jan. 6 prosecution of four Proud Boys members, saying the law left him no authority to block the Justice Department's request.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the case with prejudice against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola after a federal appeals court had already vacated their convictions.
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In a seven-page opinion, Kelly said longstanding separation-of-powers principles leave charging decisions to the executive branch, meaning he could not require the Justice Department to maintain a prosecution it had decided to drop.
"Because the decisions to issue the Executive Order and to abandon this prosecution—even after the Government secured convictions for serious crimes relating to the attack on the Capitol on January 6—are solely the Executive's, no one should mistake the Court's granting of the Government's motion for its agreement with those decisions," Kelly wrote.
Pezzola, who was convicted of assaulting police, robbery and destroying government property, was found guilty of stealing a Capitol Police riot shield before using it to smash a Capitol window, creating what prosecutors said was the first breach point through which hundreds of rioters entered the building. He was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on multiple other felony counts.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
Meanwhile, Nordean, Biggs and Rehl were convicted of seditious conspiracy and several other felonies related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, including conspiracy to obstruct Congress' certification of the 2020 presidential election, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and destruction of government property.
The Justice Department first moved in April to vacate the convictions and dismiss the case against the four men, arguing that doing so was "in the interests of justice" in light of President Donald Trump's Jan. 20, 2025, executive order commuting their sentences and issuing full pardons to former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio and hundreds of other Jan. 6 defendants. The D.C. Circuit had already erased the men's convictions before returning the case to Kelly's courtroom to consider the Justice Department's request to dismiss the indictment. HUH?
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"There is little mystery about why the Government is moving to dismiss this case, or whether dismissal is in fact what the Executive seeks," Kelly wrote. "President Trump's views about the prosecution of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6—whether those views are based on fact or fiction—are well known, as is his intention to extend clemency to them."
Kelly cited longstanding precedent holding that charging decisions belong to the executive branch and that judges cannot reject a dismissal simply because they disagree with the government's reasoning.
And because the convictions had already been vacated and prosecutors have broad authority to decide whether to pursue criminal charges, Kelly said he lacked the power to force the Justice Department to continue the prosecution.
"Indeed, it is hard to see how any course other than granting the motion in full could make practical sense. Denying the motion would not somehow revive the convictions that the Court of Appeals vacated," Kelly wrote. "Nor would denying it mean a retrial would follow, because the Court lacks the authority to compel the Executive to pursue a prosecution, full stop—but especially when an executive order explicitly requires that the Government seek dismissal with prejudice."
But Kelly sharply rebuked the actions of the Jan. 6 rioters, calling it an attack on the people, Congress, and the "Constitution's mechanism to facilitate the peaceful transfer of power."
"Moving forward, if this Nation's experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people—no matter their partisan preferences—will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework," Kelly wrote.
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Tarrio, who was also pardoned for criminal charges stemming from his role in the Jan. 6 riots, celebrated Kelly's dismissal on X.
"We took the worst they threw at us the raids, the solitary, the lies and we stood tall," Tarrio wrote. "Trump dropped the pardons and now the rest is crumbling. Justice is SERVED! Proud Boys don't lose. We WIN. This is OUR victory. THANK YOU PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP and all of you that fought for us!"
Original article source: Trump-appointed judge permanently ends Proud Boys Jan. 6 case, says Constitution left him no choice
Related Links:
DOJ SEEKS TO VACATE JAN 6 CONVICTIONS IN SWEEPING MOVE TIED TO TRUMP ORDER
FORMER INDIANA REP STEPHEN BUYER RECEIVES FULL PARDON FROM TRUMP FOR 2023 INSIDER TRADING CONVICTION
LEGAL WAR ON TRUMP’S AGENDA GAINS FIREPOWER AS FEDERAL LAWYERS DEFECT TO DEMOCRATS
===
7 26 WIKI
Timothy James Kelly (born 1969)[1] is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and former chief counsel for national security and senior crime counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Biography
Kelly received his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Duke University in 1991. From 1991 to 1993, he was a legal assistant at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and from 1993 to 1994 he was a waiter at a restaurant in Washington, DC. He then attended Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a senior associate editor of the American Criminal Law Review. He graduated in 1997 with a Juris Doctor.
After law school, Kelly entered private practice at Arnold & Porter. He served as a law clerk to Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 2001 to 2002, returning to Arnold & Porter afterward. Kelly worked for the U.S. Department of Justice from 2003 to 2013. He served first as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia and then as a trial attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division. He also served as the Republican staff director for the Senate's Caucus on International Narcotics Control,[2] and from 2013 to 2017 Judge Kelly served as Chief Counsel for National Security and Senior Crime Counsel to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley.[3]
Federal judicial service
On June 7, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Kelly to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, to the seat vacated by Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, who assumed senior status on May 18, 2016.[4] A hearing on his nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee took place on June 28, 2017.[5] On July 13, 2017, his nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote.[6] On September 5, 2017, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by a 94–2 vote.[7] He received his judicial commission on September 8, 2017.[1]
Notable cases
Kelly presided over English v. Trump, a lawsuit related to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the successor to the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, who had resigned in November 2017 to kick off a run for Governor of Ohio. Before resigning, Cordray appointed Leandra English as his deputy. President Trump appointed Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to serve as acting director. Kelly declined to issue a temporary restraining order and held that Mulvaney could remain as acting director.[8]
Kelly presided over CNN v. Trump, a lawsuit about President Trump's decision to revoke Jim Acosta's White House press credentials, denying him access to the White House grounds. CNN filed a lawsuit in order to challenge this decision and alleged this violated Acosta's first and fifth amendment rights. On November 16, 2018, Kelly ruled that Acosta could return to the White House, pending a trial. On November 19, 2018, CNN dropped the suit.[9]
On December 28, 2021, Kelly refused to dismiss an indictment against four members of the Proud Boys who were charged with conspiracy in the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[10] On May 4, 2023, four of the five defendants in that case, Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Zachary Rehl, were convicted of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, while the other defendant, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy. Kelly declared a mistrial for Pezzola's obstruction count as the jury deadlocked on the charge.[11] In July 2026, Kelly dismissed the case against Nordean, Biggs, Rehl and Pezzola under protest, saying he was obliged by precedent to grant the Justice Department's motion to dismiss.[12][13][14]
Memberships
He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2009.[15]
Personal life
Kelly lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two children.[3]
7 26 ti
MMA 5 26
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OMFG
AP
Justice Department moves to toss seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders who were sentenced to prison terms for leading members of the far-right extremist groups in attacking the U.S. Capitol to keep President Donald Trump in office over five years ago.
Trump commuted the prison sentences of several Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders last January in a sweeping act of clemency for all 1,500-plus defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
The request by the Justice Department would go a step further and erase all the convictions for extremist group leaders, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who didn’t receive pardons last January.
The move to abandon the convictions represented a stunning reversal from the Biden administration, which hailed the guilty verdicts as a crucial victory in its bid to hold accountable those responsible for what prosecutors described as an attack on the heart of American democracy. It’s part of the Trump administration’s continued efforts to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack and downplay the violence carried out by the mob of Trump supporters that left more than 100 police officers injured.
AP correspondent Ben Thomas reports the Justice Department is seeking the dismissal of seditious conspiracy convictions over the Capitol Riot.
In court filings, prosecutors asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate the convictions so that the government can permanently dismiss the indictments.
Related Stories
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Man charged with planting pipe bombs before the Jan. 6 riot argues Trump's mass pardons apply to him
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“The government’s motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Court to vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice — motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
Juries in Washington, D.C., convicted the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
The department’s dismissal request also includes the convictions of Oath Keepers members Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins and Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
Other extremist group members, including former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, received pardons from Trump on the first day of his second term in the White House.
Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison after he and several lieutenants were convicted in one of the most consequential cases arising from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.
Prosecutors said Rhodes and his followers stockpiled guns for possible use by “quick reaction force” teams at a Virginia hotel, but they never deployed the weapons.
Nordean’s attorney, Nicholas Smith, said they are grateful to the Justice Department for its “wise decision” in seeking dismissal of the convictions.
“We don’t want a precedent that says that any physical confrontation between protesters and law enforcement means a crime akin to treason, such as seditious conspiracy,” Smith said.
Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who was dragged into the mob and suffered a heart attack after a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, was disappointed but not surprised by the latest milestone in the dismantling of Capitol riot prosecutions.
“I would remind Americans that these were traitors to this country,” Fanone said. “They planned, incited and carried out an insurrection.”
Richer covers the Justice Department and federal courts. She joined The AP in 2013 and is based in Washington.
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04/09/2026
Jason Salzman at Colorado Times Recorder: How a Stealth Conservative News Service, Called Center Square, Infects Local Media Across America
Center Square has figured out how to have an under-the-radar right-wing “political agenda” and present readers with the basic elements of journalism, which helps it score higher ratings from watchdogs.
Yunior Rivas @ Democracy Docket: Former Proud Boys leader urges MAGA to give Harmeet Dhillon ‘a fair shot’ if promoted at DOJ
Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in coordinating the effort to block certification of the 2020 election. He later received a pardon from President Donald Trump.
Robert Reich @ Substack: The truth about Harmeet Dhillon, Trump's likely pick for attorney general
Harmeet Dhillon is the last person who should be running the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. She should never become attorney general — which means Trump will probably nominate her.
Justin Jouevenal @ Washington Post: Supreme Court remade by Trump ushers in historic defeats for civil rights
The court is the first since at least the ’50s to reject claims in a majority of cases involving women and minorities
Meghna Chakrabarti @ NPR’s On Point: What happens when religious fundamentalists come to power?
How Christian extremism came to influence the Trump administration and offer moral underpinnings for the new war in the Middle East, with guests Katherine Stewart and Robert Jones
Aaron Earles @ Christianity Today: Pastors Want More Ways for Immigrants to Arrive and Remain Legally
While pastors are divided on the Trump administration’s deportation campaign, a large majority oppose deporting persecuted Christians and blocking refugees.
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WIKI ED FUCKING MARTIN
DoJ pardon attorney
On May 13, 2025 Martin announced he would serve as the pardon attorney, vowing to review the Biden administration's outgoing pardons.[27] He also announced that he would head a "Weaponization Working Group" within the United States Department of Justice, saying, "When it comes to the problem of weaponization. . . . that's what the Biden administration, they didn't tell you what they were doing they just targeted people," and "if they can be charged, we'll charge them. But if they can't be charged, we will name them . . . and in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are ashamed."[28] On May 22, he met with Peter Ticktin of the American Rights Alliance.
Ticktin recommended full pardons for Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes; for Proud Boys members Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola; and for Dan Wilson and Elias Costianes, former January 6 defendants who are currently in prison for unrelated charges.[84] Separately, in a podcast episode that aired May 22, Martin said of the two men convicted of plotting in 2020 to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer: "we can't leave these guys behind".[85] On May 26, Martin described the rationale for granting pardons as "No MAGA left behind".[86]
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neo nazi ads 1 26
we will have home agIN BY GOD PROUD BOY
MUSK WE WILL BE SLAUGHTERED
CYNTHIA MILLER IDRISS SP AM UNIV POLR EXTR LAB
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jan 6 5 yr anniv
all say fed deep state set up BS
Five years after January 6, the diehards came back to the scene of the crime. Pardoned rioters, conspiracy theories, and a fierce counter-protest collided on the National Mall. Jared Poland gives his take to Sam Stein on what he found from reporting on the ground as Americans argue again over what really happened on Jan. 6.
1:37
I was there during January 6. We're here
1:40
for um Ashley Babbett and a couple other
1:42
people that we lost. And you know, I'm
1:44
here fighting with the Proud Boys.
1:45
Mhm. and I'm here to just put up a good
1:47
fight. You know,
1:48
when you think of that day, what what
1:49
what does it make you think about?
1:51
Uh we were set up, you know, it was
1:53
supposed to be an amazing day and we're
1:54
set up by the FBI. You know, other
1:56
people pretended to be us and it was it
1:59
was supposed to be a great day, but it
2:00
was a horrible day. You know, it was
2:02
just a fun day, like a tour basically,
2:03
and they got set up. So, I feel bad for
2:05
them. You know, luckily I didn't have to
2:06
go to prison, but I'm here because all
2:08
the people that did have to go to
2:09
prison. I was in the goolog for many
2:11
months. I'm one of those that was hunted
2:13
down.
2:15
140 Republican congressmen were going to
2:17
object that day and I believe it was 12
2:19
senators as well, which is one reason
2:21
they had the insurrection, the
2:23
fedsurrection as we call it. It was an
2:24
inside job. Uh I think the government
2:26
attacked the people. People were up
2:28
there assembling and they were they were
2:30
basically forced into a I mean a lobster
2:33
trap. Lobster trap, that's what they
2:35
call it.
2:36
And I saw it when I got there. They were
2:38
they were throwing fire bomb smoke bombs
2:40
into the crowd trying to agitate the
2:42
crowd. I thought the crowd was actually
2:43
very well behaved all things considered
2:46
there really wasn't I mean when you
2:48
really look at the big picture almost a
2:49
million people
2:50
a lot worse could have happened. Our
2:52
government uh set us up. They allowed us
2:54
to walk in there and then they hunted us
2:55
down like terrorists and prosecuted us
2:58
in an unfair court system. And uh that's
3:00
exactly what it means. Um you know
3:02
mainstream media won't tell the truth.
3:04
They won't show you the truth. uh they
3:06
they're never going to tell show
3:07
evidence that's out there. They refuse
3:09
to put it on TV and uh continue to call
3:12
it an insurrection when we all know it
3:14
was a fedsurrection. There are hundreds
3:16
of uh undercover u FBI agents dressed as
3:20
Trump supporters there
...
7:56
need to do something or nicely we tell
7:59
you step down.
Tarrio:
8:01
I don't want any violence to happen to
8:04
those people that perpetrated these
8:06
crimes against humanity, against
8:08
Americans.
8:10
But I want them to pay.
8:12
That's right.
8:13
They made an example out of us.
8:15
That's right.
8:16
And we need to make an example out of
8:18
them. ...
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Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia,
that he will relaunch the group after it disbanded following his prison sentence in 2023.
Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other crimes committed during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
In January 2025, President Donald Trump granted clemency to the over 1,500 defendants convicted of crimes connected to the storming of the Capitol.
Trump did not pardon Rhodes – or some others found guilty of the most serious crimes on Jan. 6. He instead commuted Rhodes’ sentence to time served. Commutation only reduces the punishment for a crime, whereas a full pardon erases a conviction.
As a political anthropologist I study the Patriot movement, a collection of anti-government right-wing groups that include the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Moms for Liberty. I specialize in alt-right beliefs, and I have interviewed people active in groups that participated in the Capitol riot.
Rhodes’ plans to relaunch the Oath Keepers, largely composed of current and former military veterans and law enforcement officers, is important because it will serve as an outlet for those who have felt lost since his imprisonment. The group claimed it had over 40,000 dues-paying members at the height of its membership during Barack Obama’s presidency. I believe that many of these people will return to the group, empowered by the lack of any substantial punishment resulting from the pardons for crimes committed on Jan. 6.
In my interviews, I’ve found that military veterans are treated as privileged members of the Patriot movement. They are honored for their service and military training. And that’s why I believe many former Oath Keepers will rejoin the group – they are considered integral members.
Their oaths to serving the Constitution and the people of the United States are treated as sacred, binding members to an ideology that leads to action. This action includes supporting people in conflicts against federal agencies, organizing citizen-led disaster relief efforts, and protesting election results like on Jan. 6. The members’ strength results from their shared oath and the reverence they feel toward keeping it.
Who are the Oath Keepers?
Rhodes joined the Army after high school and served for three years before being honorably discharged after a parachuting accident in 1986. He then attended the University of Nevada and later graduated from Yale Law School in 2004. He founded the Oath Keepers in 2009.
Oath Keepers takes its name from the U.S military Oath of Enlistment, which states:
“I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States …”
Informed by his law background, Rhodes places a particular emphasis on the part of the oath that states they will defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
He developed a legal theory that justifies ignoring what he refers to as “unlawful orders” after witnessing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Following the natural disaster, local law enforcement was assigned the task of confiscating guns, many of which officers say were stolen or found in abandoned homes.
Rhodes was alarmed, believing that the Second Amendment rights of citizens were being violated. Because of this, he argued that people who had military or law enforcement backgrounds had a legal duty to refuse what the group considers unlawful orders, including any that violated constitutionally protected rights, such as the right to bear arms.
In the Oath Keepers’ philosophy, anyone who violates these rights are domestic enemies to the Constitution. And if you follow the orders, you’ve violated your oath.
Explaining the origin of the group on the right-wing website 
” in November 2025, Rhodes said: “… we were attacked out of the gate, labeled anti-government, which is absurd because we’re defending the Constitution that established the federal government. We were labeled anti-government extremists, all kinds of nonsense because the elites want blind obedience in the police and military.”
Rebuilding and restructuring
In 2022, the nonprofit whistleblower site Distributed Denial of Secrets leaked more than 38,000 names on the Oath Keepers’ membership list.
The Anti-Defamation League estimated that nearly 400 of the names were active law enforcement officers, and that over 100 were serving in the military. Some of these members were investigated by their workplaces but never disciplined for their involvement with the group.
Some members who were not military or law enforcement did lose their jobs over their affiliation. But they held government-related positions, such as a Wisconsin alderman who resigned after he was identified as a member.
This breach of privacy, paired with the dissolution of the organization after Rhodes’ sentencing, will help shape the group going forward.
In his interview with 
,” where he announced the group’s relaunch, Rhodes said: “I want to make it clear, like I said, my goal would be to make it more cancel-proof than before. We’ll have resilient, redundant IT that makes it really difficult to take down. … And I want to make sure I get – put people in charge and leadership everywhere in the country so that, you know, down the road, if I’m taken out again, that it can still live on under good leadership without me being there.”
There was a similar shift in organizational structure with the Proud Boys in 2018. That’s when their founder, Gavin McInnes, stepped away from the organization. His departure came after a group of Proud Boys members were involved in a fight with anti-fascists in New York.
Prosecutors wanted to try the group as a gang. McInnes, therefore, distanced himself to support their defense that they weren’t in a gang or criminal organization. Ultimately, two of the members were sentenced to four years in prisonfor attempted gang assault charges.
Some Proud Boys members have told me they have since focused on creating local chapters, with in-person recruitment, that communicate on private messaging apps. They aim to protect themselves from legal classification as a gang. It also makes it harder for investigators or activist journalists to monitor them.
This is referred to as a cell style of organization, which is popular with insurgency groups. These groups are organized to rebel against authority and overthrow government structures. The cell organizational style does not have a robust hierarchy but instead produces smaller groups. They all adhere to the same ideology but may not be directly associated.
They may have a leader, but it’s often acknowledged that they are merely a figurehead, not someone giving direct orders. For the Proud Boys, this would be former leader Enrique Tarrio. Proud Boys members I’ve spoken to have referred to him as a “mascot” and not their leader.
Looking ahead
So what does the Rhodes interview indicate about the future of Oath Keepers?
Members will continue supporting Trump while also recruiting more retired military and law enforcement officers. They will create an organizational structure designed to outlive Rhodes. And based on my interactions with the far-right, I believe it’s likely they will create an organizational structure similar to that of the cell style for organizing.
Beyond that, they are going to try to own their IT, which includes hosting their websites and also using trusted online revenue generators.
This will likely provide added security, protecting their membership rolls while making it more difficult for law enforcement agencies to investigate them in the future.
Alexander Lowie, Postdoctoral associate in Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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AN 12 25
On my Sirius XM program, I discussed the almost comical hearing this month in which a top FBI official, flanked by dog-killing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, claimed antifa — short for anti-fascist — was the “number one terrorist” threat in the United States. Yet he couldn’t answer repeated questions from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) about where the group’s headquarters are, or how many people are actually in the group:
Michael Glasheen, operations director of the FBI’s National Security Branch, said antifa was the agency’s “primary concern” and “the most immediate violent threat that we’re facing.”Glasheen did not answer a question from the top Democrat at the hearing, U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson, about the group’s location. When asked about the number of members, Glasheen said it was “very fluid” and that “investigations are active.”
“Sir, you wouldn’t come to this committee to say something that you can’t prove,” Thompson said to Glasheen. “I know you wouldn’t do that. But you did.”
Later, Glasheen was asked if the Proud Boys were still on the FBI’s list of domestic extremist organizations — after they were added in 2018, under Trump’s first term — but he didn’t answer, just saying, “We’re in the process right now of changing our categories for domestic terrorism.”
After I played the clips of the exchanges and commented on the ludicrousness of this — and the dangers — Steven from Los Angeles, clearly a MAGA supporter, called the program to disagree with me, claiming antifa is a terror threat he has witnessed firsthand.
Antifa of course doesn’t exist as any organized nationwide group. Some people engaging in protest call themselves ant-fascist, and often take on the name antifa — even carrying banners and other identifiers — but they mostly act independently of others who might use the term to to identify themselves.
The majority of those who call themselves antifa are opposed to violence, per the Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration. Even if some people have called themselves antifa and have engaged in or inspired violent actions in one place or another during protests (which has happened), that doesn’t mean there’s an organized group engaged in actual organized terror plots.
:{:{But Steven didn’t get that,}:
Steven:Okay, so I, um, I disagree with you, uh, living on the West Coast. Whether it’s antifa, whether you want to call it, whatever organization it is. But, I mean, they’ve ruined the streets of Los Angeles. San Francisco is a dump. Um, uh, Oregon is a dump. Uh, Seattle, Washington.MS:Who who did this? Who ruined the streets? What did they do?
Steven: It was. Well, whatever organization you want to call it. Uh, the people that were protesting on the streets.
MS:You said antifa.
Steven: Well, that's who they're supposed to be, right?
After I pressed him on what they’re doing he said that in Portland and other places, “These people are on the streets every day. They're yelling at cars. The traffic is stopped.”
Yelling at cars? Yes, that’s what he said.
MS: Okay, Steven, that's not terrorism.Steven: What is that? Terrorism. The stores are all closed.
MS: No, Stephen, that's not terrorism. You could tell me about vandalism. You could tell me about protests. You could even tell me about rioting, if you want, which we haven't seen.
But a terrorist and a terrorist organization are highly coordinated groups of people with plots and plans to take down the government or send a message to a group of people, and they engage in mass violence, bombings, mass shootings, kidnappings.
Why is our government spending all this money on this? You're telling me about what? Graffiti in Los Angeles?
He went on about how yelling at protests and throwing things — not explaining more — was terrorism.
But then when I brought up actual terrorism — January 6, police officers bludgeoned, the Proud Boys making threats, and the Oath Keepers, per law enforcement, stockpiling weapons at a hotel in Virginia, with a plan to bring them up the Potomac to take the Capitol — he had a very different answer.
Steven: You know what? I don't think we'll ever know the truth of that whole situation.
Oh yeah, it got a little hot from there before I ended the call and let me know your thoughts!
*Michelangelo Signorile writes The Signorile Report, a free and reader-supported Substack. If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism.
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RWW
12/10/2025
by
- Brianna Sacks @ The Washington Post: Election denier tapped for FEMA leadership role
Gregg Phillips, who claimed that millions of “noncitizens” voted illegally in the 2016 election, will head FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery.
- Isaac Stanley-Becker @ The Atlantic: USAID Hired the Right-Wing Influencer Responsible for Its Decimation
Mike Benz was brought aboard to find evidence for his claims that the agency is secretly a spy operation.
- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Democrats score big wins in Florida and Georgia, as the GOP’s election woes continue
The more Donald Trump and his party pretend they don’t have an electoral problem, the more Republicans lose winnable elections.
- Megan Twohey and Isabella Kwai @ The New York Times: How a Manosphere Star Accused of Rape and Trafficking Was Freed
Barred from leaving Romania, Andrew Tate courted powerful figures on the American right, from Tucker Carlson to Barron Trump. Then an extraordinary order let him go.
- Michael Luciano @ Mediaite: Trump Suggests It’s ‘Treasonous’ To Report He’s in Bad Physical Shape
President Donald Trump slammed The New York Times and unnamed “some others” for reporting unfavorably about the 79-year-old’s health.
- Steven Monacelli @ The Barbed Wire: He’s an Unapologetic Fascist Who ‘Despises’ Democracy. He Still Wants You to Vote for Him.
The court-appointed public defender in North Texas was once leader of the Proud Boys, has posted racist threats online, and sports a white nationalist tattoo. Now he wants to represent you.
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an 12 9 25
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6 25 moveon
- "Proud Boys lawsuit over Jan. 6 faces steep legal odds, high political cost," The Hill,January 10, 2025
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5341104-proud-boys-trump-lawsuit/
- "From a 'day of love' to 'if they spit, we will hit': Trump's about-face on violence against police," NBC News, June 11, 2025
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-violence-police-jan-6-los-angeles-rcna211912
- "Across Party Lines, Americans Oppose Pardons for Jan. 6 Violence," States United Democracy Center, January 19, 2025
https://statesunited.org/resources/jan-6-pardons/
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AN 6 25
Miami New Times reports a member of Miami-Dade County's GOP Executive Committee joked about running over protesters with his car as people took to the streets forthe "No Kings" protests.
In a June 13 tweet, District 22 committeeman Chris Barcenas reposted a video of a man dancing in his car and singing to Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" with the caption, "Driving home from work knowing DeSantis gave permission to the good people of Florida to go car bowling this weekend."
Barcenas added, "Turn on off-road mode."
The post was still available on X on Monday, preceding later posts trying to imply right-wing assassin, Vance Boelter, was a Democrat.
Miami New Times reports Barcenas is a former member of the Proud Boys who protested at the Capitol on January 6 but did not enter the building and was not charged with any crimes related to January 6. He later testified before the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 riot, detailing the Proud Boys' involvement in the insurrection and his involvement with the organization and another local right-wing group, Floridians First. Barcenas claims he is no longer involved with the Proud Boys.
Last week, at the onset of anti-Trump protests, Gov. Ron DeSantis reminded Floridians that they do not have to worry about hitting protesters with their cars if they are surrounded and feel threatened.
"We also have a policy that if you are driving on one of their streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have the right to flee for your safety," DeSantis said during an appearance onthe Rubin Report podcast. "And so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that's their fault for impinging on you."
READ MORE:The Trump administration just accidentally made the case against the Big Beautiful Bill
Miami defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh told reporters he was concerned about DeSantis’ message.
“The right to use deadly force in Florida only occurs when you reasonably fear death or great bodily harm; you don’t get free rein to hit protesters just because they are around your vehicle," he said.
Read the full Miami New Times report at this link.
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MMA
On far-right US podcasts, South Koreans push baseless claims of election fraud
Claims of election fraud were a key reason for South Korea’s then-president to declare martial law in December
Written by Alex Kaplan
Published 06/02/25
Far-right podcasters and streamers in the United States have hosted right-wing South Korean figures to share baseless claims that the country’s recent elections were overwhelmed by fraud.
The appearances have come since South Korea’s then-president briefly declared martial law in December, citing supposed election fraud as one of the justifications for the move.
- On December 3, 2024, then-South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced that he was imposing martial law, deploying troops to the country’s election commission and accusing his opposition of “trying to overthrow the free democracy.” South Korean officials have since rebutted claims of election fraud, and Yoon has been impeached and removed from office, but South Korean right-wing YouTubers are reportedly helping fuel the claims. Some South Korean supporters of Yoon have invoked phrases used in the United States in support of President Donald Trump, including “Stop the Steal,” the slogan used to push false claims of election fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Media Matters has found that far-right media figures in the United States, including some who pushed U.S. election misinformation, have hosted right-wing South Korean personalities to push false claims about the country’s elections and justifications for Yoon’s use of martial law.
- ## Catherine Engelbrecht and South Korean graduate student falsely claimed the US and South Korea elections were stolen
- On December 9, 2024, days after the martial law declaration, Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of the right-wing organization True the Vote — known for pushing election denial — hosted a South Korean graduate student named Yechan Bae on her podcast.
During the appearance, Engelbrecht said Yechan had seen “many similarities in what was happening in South Korea and in the United States relative to the elections,” adding that “their elections run on the same cycle.”
Before introducing Yechan, Engelbrecht called South Korea’s elections “chapter and verse of what happened here in 2020,” and said that “people didn’t appreciate … that martial law was declared to sequester the corrupt congress and to seize property at their election commission.”
Yechan claimed that the “same enemy rigged our — stole our elections in South Korea and the United States too.”
He also said he thinks Yoon declared martial law because “the whole legal system in this country is totally corrupted” and it “denied the election was fraud,” adding, “He didn’t try to get rid of democracy in this country.”
In response, Engelbrecht suggested that Yoon’s declaration of martial law was part of his “efforts to establish the election integrity necessary” and “the goal was to try and see for themselves what had really transpired in previous elections.”
Video
Citation
From the December 9, 2024, edition of True the Vote's Onward, streamed on Locals
- ## On Headmaster’s Homeroom, South Korean Alfred Kim said his “election integrity” group is “similar to” the Proud Boys
- In May, after Yoon was removed from office, Kim Jeong-hyun (who goes by Alfred Kim in his American appearances) appeared on the right-wing Rumble podcast Headmaster’s Homeroom. On-screen text identified him as the “founder of White Skull Squad,” which Agence France-Presse has described as a “far-right youth group” whose name is a reference to “a unit that cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in the 1980s and 1990s.”
During the appearance, Kim said his organization is “similar to” the violent American far-right extremist group the Proud Boys and “stood up for election integrity.”
“There has to be some case, right, that authorities … make it clear that there was a fraud election, right?” he said. “But that never happened in South Korea. So my question is, so what … do we do? Like, what do we do when the higher hierarchy, like, high-rank authority, becomes corrupted?”
He also compared the situation in South Korea to “the January 6 when, you know, the fraud election cartel still, you know, stole the election, and Trump just has to, you know, step down” because “RINOs … turned out to be a betrayer.”
Video
Citation
From the May 17, 2025, edition of Headmaster's Homeroom, streamed on Rumble
- The host, who goes by “Lady Hamilton,” said Kim’s story of election fraud and “hacking” “sounds familiar” and that it’s “not the first time we've heard stories about election fraud and trying to be able to choose our president.”
“That just alarms me,” she said. “I mean, how did the people react? I mean, I guess you don’t have a choice, but that’s going to awaken a lot of people when you put down something like martial law.”
- ## On a Proud Boys-affiliated podcast, Kim urged Trump to investigate Korea’s election commission
- Days later, Kim went on a Proud Boys-affiliated podcast and pushed the same claims. He told host Barry Ramey and network co-founder Enrique Tarrio, the group's former chairman, that “we have to forbid this election machine, electronic machine, worldwide. We have to stop it, and I believe Donald J. Trump can do it, right away,” urging the Trump administration to investigate Korea’s election commission.
He added that it “is so crucial that, you know, President Trump and MAGA patriots are on our side.” He also said that he is planning to “establish White Skull Squad in the states.”
Video
Citation
From the May 21, 2025, edition of The American Rising, streamed on Rumble
- Ramey and Tarrio appeared to express sympathy for Kim. Ramey told him that he was “extremely brave and courageous” and noted that he “tried to spearhead the people understanding that there was some fraud in the election” in South Korea, and Tarrio said that “it is pretty insightful here talking to you that, you know, this … is a global problem.”
//
09/15/22 2:04 PM EDT
05/09/23 11:44 AM EDT
01/21/25
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raw story
Proud Boys militant at Mar-a-Lago
Travis Gettys
May 5, 2025 10:08AM ET
'I love you guys': Trump greets convicted Proud Boys militant at Mar-a-Lago
Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, former national chairman of the Proud Boys who was sentenced to 22 years, talks to the media following his release from prison after U.S. President Donald Trump made a sweeping pardon of those charged in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, in Miami, Florida, U.S. January 24, 2025. REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui
President Donald Trump offered a message of support to the Jan. 6 insurrectionists when he met with a former Proud Boys militant in Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.
Enrique Tarrio, who formerly led the right-wing militant group before his conviction on sedition charges, met with the president Saturday after a member invited him and his mother, Zuny Duarte, reported the New York Times. HuffPost flagged his description of the encounter on X.
"@ZunyTarrio and I just had a great conversation with @POTUS," Tarrio posted. "He called me and my Mother over while we were at dinner and said he was sorry for what @JoeBiden did to all J6ers. He knew the hardships me and my family faced for 3 long years. He knew how many times they moved me. And he said he is working on making things right. I thanked him for giving me my life back. He replied with…I Love You guys."
"To the J6ers he wanted me to send yall a message… He said…Thank you," Tarrio added.
ALSO READ:‘Pain. Grief. Anger’: Families heartbroken as Trump backlash smashes adoption dreams
Duarte said the president recognized her son's name, saying, "Oh, you're that guy," when they were introduced, and she said Trump was familiar with the names of his co-defendants in the sedition case.
Tarrio was convicted in 2023 and sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other crimes related to the U.S. Capitol riot, although he was not present at the attack. He was released from a Louisiana prison after Trump pardoned all of the rioters and others related to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
He was arrested again in February after Capitol police saw him hit a woman's arm after she put a cell phone close to his face during a gathering of Jan. 6 participants at the Capitol.
Enrique Tarrio
@NobleOne
·
Follow
@ZunyTarrio and I just had a great conversation with @POTUS. He called me and my Mother over while we were at dinner and said he was sorry for what @JoeBiden did to all J6ers. He knew the hardships me and my family faced for 3 long years. He knew how many times they moved me. And Show more
5:13 PM · May 3, 2025
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no lnx an raw
'Retribution or bust’: Trump's 'Secretary of Retribution' demands mass arrests
Ivan Raiklin takes the stage to speak at a New Hampshire Election Security Seminar presented by the New Hampshire Voter Integrity Group in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., November 19, 2021.
Jordan Green April 16, 2025
Ivan Raiklin, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who calls himself the “secretary of retribution,” has circulated a so-called “Deep State target list” of President Donald Trump’s political enemies for more than a year now.
Although his promise of spectacular “live-streamed” arrests of hundreds of political figures up to and including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on fancifully concocted charges of treason and other purported violations of law has yet to materialize, Raiklin was able to enlist new allies after Trump vacated the convictions of more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.
Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes, respectively the former leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, joined Raiklin on an X space on Sunday night to call for retaliatory arrests against those they hold responsible for the Jan. 6 prosecutions.
ALSO READ: Trump, dementia and the duty to warn
The two men were both convicted of seditious conspiracy, with Tarrio serving a 22-year sentence and Rhodes serving an 18-year sentence. Alone among the leadership cadre of the two groups, Tarrio received a full pardon, while Rhodes’s sentence was commuted.
“These are people who have already committed treason,” Raiklin said during the call on Sunday night to discuss retribution against the vast array of government officials who played a role in holding the Jan. 6 insurrectionists accountable. “I’ve seen the evidence. Those that went to January 6th and protested the illegal election knew and saw that these criminals were there.”
Tarrio joined Raiklin in urging Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to start making arrests.
“At what point do we say, ‘Enough'?” Tarrio asked. “At what point does the retaliation, the investigations, the arrests come for these people that wanted to put us in a concrete coffin?”
The FBI declined to comment on this story, and the Department of Justice did not respond to questions submitted through a web form.
But the wide-ranging discussion among Raiklin and his guests on the 99-minute X space revealed deep-seated frustration with Trump administration officials. While Trump promised “retribution” during the campaign, those seeking vindication for their roles in the effort to overturn the 2020 election have found their cause pushed aside during the second administration’s shockwave of new policies, including a global trade war, dismantling the federal government, purging DEI from the military and other institutions, menacing Greenland and the Panama Canal, threatening funding to universities, and disappearing lawful residents.
“I’ve already given up hope on Pam Bondi,” Tarrio said. He added that the recent decision by Patel to promote Steve J. Jensen, former chief of the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Operations Section, to the position of assistant director of the Washington Field Office “does not restore confidence for the American people.”
Tarrio and other pardoned Jan. 6 defendants are unhappy about Jensen’s promotion largely because of the congressional testimony of a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst who told House Republicans that Jensen once described three individuals targeted for Jan. 6 investigations as “godd--- terrorists.”
Raiklin and Tarrio could not be reached for comment for this story.
The 98-minute discussion on Sunday often veered from the retaliatory arrests that Raiklin emphasized as the focal point.
Listeners complained that they could only hear every other word of Rhodes’ remarks, and the former Oath Keepers leader lamented that his X account had been suspended after he made a post calling for the release of another member held in custody on separate gun charges.
Compared with Raiklin and Tarrio’s remarks, Rhodes’ criticism of the Department of Justice and FBI was relatively mild.
“The more you wait, the more they’re going to destroy evidence,” Rhodes said. “So, you gotta go fast.”
Raiklin expressed the view that the Jan. 6 defendants’ best hope of retaliatory arrests lies with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Edward R. Martin Jr., a former “Stop the Steal” campaigner.
Martin’s actions have given those who want to see Trump’s political opponents prosecuted some cause for hope.
In February, Martin sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asking him to clarify comments he made at a March 2024 rally warning that Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh “will pay the price” and “won’t know what hit you if you go through with these awful decisions.” In a subsequent letter, Martin told Schumer: “Your cooperation is more important than ever to complete this inquiry before any action is taken. I remind you: no one is above the law.”
In a letter to another Democratic lawmaker in February, Martin requested that Rep. Robert Garcia (R-CA) clarify his comments on CNN that “the American public wants… us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight” against billionaire Elon Musk.
Martin’s probes prompted 10 lawyers, including four former Jan. 6 prosecutors, to file a letter on Monday requesting that District of Columbia Court of Appeals investigate Martin for potential violations of the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct.
“Announcing investigations against his political opponents” and other alleged misconduct, the attorneys argued, “are not worthy of the Department of Justice, undermine the Constitutional guarantee of equal protection of law, and violate Mr. Martin’s professional obligations.”
The attorneys also raised questions about Martin’s representation of Jan. 6 defendant William Pope before Martin was appointed to serve as U.S. attorney. The attorneys cited a court filing by Pope claiming that Martin suggested he request the government’s file in his case. The filing, according to the attorneys, raised questions about whether Martin “potentially gave legal advice to a defendant his office was prosecuting at the time.”
As a prosecutor, Martin has intervened directly on Rhodes’ behalf. In January, Martin successfully filed court papers seeking to overturn a federal judge’s order barring Rhodes and other convicted members of the Oath Keepers from visiting Washington, D.C. without permission. Last month, Martin spoke at a Florida political fundraiser that was attended by four of Rhodes’ Oath Keeper co-defendants, Mother Jones reported.
Asked whether Martin is considering investigating those responsible for the Jan. 6 prosecutions and potentially bringing federal charges, spokesperson Daniel Ball told Raw Story the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is “unable to confirm or deny the existence of investigations.”
Tarrio and other guests on Raiklin’s X space provided few details on who they believe should be arrested and what crimes they might have potentially committed. Raiklin, meanwhile, outlined a highly technical and legally specious case for targeting Thomas DiBiase, the general counsel for the U.S. Capitol Police, whom he described as “the key individual that weaponized against J6-ers.”
“If we get to him, he can essentially squeal on everyone else, to include the number-one high-value target, Nancy Pig-losi [sic],” Raiklin said.
The U.S. Capitol Police did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
On Monday, Raiklin made an X post directed at Bondi, suggesting he wants Trump’s attorney general to rack up an arrest count equivalent to the FBI’s sprawling investigation of the Jan. 6 attack.
“Retribution or bust,” he wrote. “The ball is in your hands. Shot clock ends May 31. 6 weeks remain to conduct ~1500 live-streamed swatting raids of all members of the [Deep State target list].”
But compared to a viral video that garnered 10.3 million views last May when Raiklin’s plan for “livestreamed swatting raids” against his “Deep State target list” first gained notoriety, the recent post issuing an ultimatum to Bondi has garnered paltry results: 9,100 views, 134 re-posts and 21 comments as of late Monday.
The comments from MAGA users suggest Raiklin’s influence is waning.
“What happens on June 1st?” one wrote.
“You are not going to do a god d--- thing! Blah blah blah,” another wrote.
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AN 3 25
Former CIA analyst Holly Berkley Fletcher spent many years studying governments in Africa, and she paid close attention to the tactics used in the more undemocratic ones — tactics that included using violent groups to bully, strongarm and intimidate political opponents.
In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on March 14, Fletcher warns that the methods she observed in Africa are now being employed in the United States during President Donald Trump's second term.
Fletcher argues, "One of the great heartbreaks of the Trump era for me is seeing my expertise as an Africa analyst become relevant for understanding political trends in America…. As I was waiting for police to respond to a bomb threat at the Principles First conference last month in Washington, D.C. — the source of which is yet to be determined — I thought of yet another growing parallel: What technically would be called 'informal security forces' but what I, during my time as a CIA Africa analyst, colloquially called 'guys.'"
READ MORE:'A stupid fight': Conservative blasts Trump for action 'too absurd to believe'
The former CIA analyst notes that in the African countries she analyzed, "guys" weren't shy about using violence against political opponents.
"When assessing risks to a country's political stability or the endurance of a dictator's power," Fletcher explains, "one of my first questions was always, 'Does he have guys?' They can be anything from a hyper-loyal faction of regular security forces to a specially commissioned 'presidential guard' recruited from a particular ethnic group to a rag-tag gang of young men armed on the cheap and on the down-low. Most recently, they could include hired mercenaries from Russia or other countries."
Fletcher cites specific examples of how "guys" were used in Africa — and could now be used in the U.S. under Trump.
"Most successful African political leaders in less-than-democratic systems have guys, from current dictators to wannabe dictators," Fletcher observes. "Any dictator worth his salt will cultivate independent armed factions to counter any threats from the military or other potential challengers' guys."
READ MORE:'Discontent': Trump in big trouble with majority of voters — here's why
Fletcher continues, "Such groups have the added potential advantage of preserving the reputation of formal security forces in the eyes of the international community…. Sudan's former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, created the janjaweed in the early 2000s in an ultimately failed effort to distance his regime from genocide in Darfur…. Across the border, South Sudan is awash in militias formed by various aspirants for President Salva Kiir's job…. The late dictator of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, had his Presidential Guard, but he also had his mob of 'war veterans' who terrorized his opposition in exchange for license to forcibly seize whatever farms they wanted."
The former CIA analyst fears that in the U.S., far-right groups like The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers could be used as "guys" by the MAGA movement.
"The most obvious blinking red light is Trump's mass pardon of the January 6th insurrectionists, including members of organized militias such as the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters, and the Thugs Formerly Known as the Proud Boys," Fletcher observes. "A court recently awarded their name to a black church they vandalized. Fresh out of jail, Enrique Tarrio showed up at the Principles First conference last month to menace former police officers Harry Dunn, Michael Fanone, Aquilino Gonell, and Daniel Hodges, who have been outspoken about their experiences fighting the mob on January 6th and who have been the targets of constant harassment ever since…. I was similarly horrified by reports that Elon Musk's private security force now has federal law enforcement authority via the U.S. Marshals Service."
READ MORE:'Our cushion is gone': Ohio farmers worry Trump won't pay up on promised funding
*Holly Berkley Fletcher's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.
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USATODAY
NO LNX
Freed by Trump, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers plan to sue DOJ
Will Carless
Sudiksha Kochi
USA TODAY
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, de-facto leader of the extremist street gang the Proud Boys, says he wants 'retribution.'
Steward Rhodes, whose Oath Keepers kept an arsenal of weapons across the Potomac River during the assault on the Capitol, said he too plans to sue.
President Trump called the Jan. 6 defendants 'political prisoners' and pardoned or commuted the sentences of 1,600 people after taking office.
WASHINGTON - More than four years after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the two men federal prosecutors charged as the principal leaders of the riot were back to announce they’re suing the Justice Department.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, de-facto leader of the extremist street gang the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, founder of the militant anti-government group the Oath Keepers, were joined by several other Jan. 6 defendants at a chaotic roadside press conference in front of the Capitol on Friday.
As counter-protestors chanted insults through bullhorns, Tarrio said he and four other Proud Boys plan to sue the Justice Department for malicious prosecution over their conviction and imprisonment for seditious conspiracy. Last month, President Donald Trump commuted the sentences of Tarrio and Rhodes and pardoned or commuted the sentences of almost 1,600 other Jan. 6 rioters.
Tarrio said he was seeking “retribution” for the years he and his fellow Proud Boys spent in prison.
More:Proud Boys' Enrique Tarrio tells all: Wants accusers to 'feel the heat', weighs sheriff run
“They suffered for three years, and those who made them suffer will pay,” Tarrio said. “That is why today we are announcing a lawsuit against the DOJ for their murders, their lies and the endless suffering they have put us through.”
Tarrio and Rhodes were both convicted of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the storming of the Capitol while legislators certified Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over President Trump. They received sentences of 22 and 18 years respectively. Rhodes said he too will be suing the DOJ in a separate lawsuit, but gave no details.
After the press conference, Tarrio was arrested by Capitol police for allegedly swiping his hand at a protester.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, former (and possibly current) leader of the far-right group the Proud Boys, appears at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 21, 2025.
How will Trump's DOJ respond to Jan. 6 lawsuits?
Tarrio was joined by fellow Proud Boys Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola, all of whom were imprisoned for their roles in the riot and freed by Trump last month. The five men are all plaintiffs in the coming lawsuit, Tarrio said.
The proposed litigation could set the stage for an extraordinary showdown − or climbdown − between the Jan. 6 convicts and the DOJ.
More:A breakdown of the 187 minutes Trump was out of view on Jan. 6 as aides urged him to act
Ordinarily, the department would quickly swat away such a lawsuit, legal experts told USA TODAY. But in the current administration, they said, it’s unclear what path it will take. Trump has shown consistent support for the Jan. 6 rioters, calling them “political prisoners.”
Trump could order the DOJ to allow the lawsuit to continue, rather than filing motions to have it dismissed, said Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Trump could also order the department to compensate the convicted seditionists, he said.
More:Indiana man pardoned by Trump for Jan. 6 riot is shot and killed by deputy during arrest
“Given that they’ve been convicted, it sounds like a frivolous suit,” Chemerisky said “But could Trump order it be settled? Of course.”
Prosecutors are generally protected from such lawsuits by a host of immunity doctrines, Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes speaks to the media outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 21, 2025.
“The DOJ could decide to settle the case and pay some damages, but if the DOJ decides to fight it I think they would have some very strong grounds,” he said.
A spokesperson for President Trump told USA TODAY the administration doesn’t comment on hypotheticals and noted that a lawsuit has not yet been filed.
More:Jan. 6 prisoners, including Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, released after Trump pardons, commutations
More Jan 6 lawsuits coming
Rhodes, who led a team of Oath Keepers to the Capitol and whose followers stashed a cache of weapons in a motel room across the Potomac on January 6 for easy access, said he will also file a lawsuit against the DOJ.
Tarrio suggested the Proud Boys could be joined by hundreds more Jan. 6 defendants.
“We do have a lawyer. We'll be announcing that in the coming weeks, but right now, there's the five of us,” he said. “To be honest with you, I think you're gonna see 1,600 people sue the DOJ in one form or another, whether it's class action or personal."
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Jury Convicts Four Leaders of the Proud Boys of Seditious ...
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REF
Proud Boys' Enrique Tarrio tells all: Wants accusers to 'feel the heat', weighs sheriff run
Proud Boys leader strikes cautious tone in first full sit-down with USA TODAY following his pardon by President Trump
Will Carless
USA TODAY
MIAMI ― In an exclusive sit-down interview at his home in Miami, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the former − and possibly current − leader of the Proud Boys told USA TODAY he plans to keep influencing the group and said it will continue to have a role in politics moving forward.
Tarrio, who was less than two years into a 22-year federal prison sentence for seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol when President Donald Trump pardoned him on Monday, returned home to Miami on Wednesday and sat down with USA TODAY Friday morning.
The former “Chairman” of the Proud Boys struck a more cautious and less rambunctious tone than in the past in his first interview with a major news organization since his release. He acknowledged that some Jan. 6 rioters attacked police and deserved prosecution, said the Proud Boys have been unfairly miscast as a hate group, and tamped down statements he made on a podcast earlier this week when he called for “retribution” against the people who put him and other Jan. 6 rioters behind bars.
“When I say ‘Feel the heat,’ I want to be clear that I want investigations,” Tarrio said.
Asked what he and the Proud Boys would do to bring “retribution” against those who prosecuted them, if those investigations don’t reveal anything, Tarrio said he would not press the issue further.
“In the case that nothing’s found, I’ll move on to the next thing,” he said.
Henry "Enrique" Tarrio speaks to USA TODAY following his release from prison. He was pardoned by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025 for his role in the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Tarrio is considered the de facto leader of the Proud Boys, an extremist group.
Tarrio, who said he hasn’t spoken with President Donald Trump either before or since his release, was not at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Prosecutors nevertheless cast him as the mastermind of the attack. In the interview, Tarrio maintained his long-stated claim that the insurrection was not organized or planned beforehand.
Prosecutors presented evidence saying Tarrio created a special wing of the Proud Boys called the “Ministry of Self Defense,” which coordinated attacks on the day and celebrated them afterward. “Make no mistake ... we did this,” Tarrio wrote at one point to the group.
On Friday, he cast himself as a victim of a corrupt system that sought to quash freedom of speech and suppress opponents of the political class.
More:Trump freed Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders. What's next here? | The Excerpt
‘We’re not white supremacists’
Tarrio said it was a mistake to label him as the “former” chairman of the Proud Boys. He said the organization no longer publicly discusses its leadership, but he claimed he has the support of a majority of the Proud Boys.
“I think right now, probably I get along with 60% of my guys,” he said.
The Proud Boys espouse a political ideology of free speech and nationalism, expressed through offensive language, controversial memes and images. A 2021 USA TODAY investigation of the Wisconsin chapter of the group revealed racism and antisemitism, where moving up within the group was dependent on bullying potential members and promoting white supremacist talking points.
Members of the Proud Boys gather in front of the Tennessee State Capitol ahead of a special session on public safety in Nashville, Tennessee on August 21, 2023.
Tarrio said individual chapters of the Proud Boys remain largely autonomous and stressed that they are not under the full control of the national leadership. He acknowledged that white supremacists and other far-right extremists have flocked to the Proud Boys brand, but said that is because the group has been miscast by the media.
“We’re not white supremacists, we’re not Nazis, we’re not anti-semitic,” Tarrio said. “There is no group I do not insult or make a joke about.”
The Proud Boys have been less visible on America’s streets in the four years since the Capitol riot, for which dozens of members of the group were prosecuted, jailed, and now released. Sporadic groups of men wearing the signature black-and-gold Proud Boys colors have shown up everywhere from all-age drag shows to local school board meetings.
‘I’m an equal opportunity offender’
But Tarrio, who describes his heritage as “afro-Cuban,” insisted that the LGBTQ+ community and minorities have nothing to fear from the Proud Boys moving forward.
“I think that probably they should join their local chapter,” he said of members of those groups. “I don’t think that that fear is based on reality. We’ve never targeted specific groups because of their color, sexual orientation or whatnot.”
Henry "Enrique" Tarrio speaks to USA TODAY following his release from prison. He was pardoned by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025 for his role in the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Tarrio is considered the de facto leader of the Proud Boys, an extremist group.
“I’m an equal opportunity offender,” he said.
Tarrio said the Proud Boys have targeted elements of American culture that they disagree with — like drag shows for all ages, or public officials who openly supported President Biden — but said members of the group would be disavowed if they expressed hatred towards specific races or groups.
The Proud Boys have always supported Trump and will continue to do so, especially considering the pardons that have released their top leadership, Tarrio said. But he said he doesn’t foresee Proud Boys having any role to play, or getting involved with enacting Trump policies.
Proud Boys won’t be out seeking to find immigrants in the country illegally to report to officials, for example, Tarrio said.
“You’ll see them as very boisterous towards those things,” he said. “I have seen some other groups say, ‘We’re going to help them physically deport them,’ but it’s not real. It’s not realistic.”
As for his own future, Tarrio half-joked that he might run to be Miami’s next local sheriff.
“I’m just riffing here, but I run for sheriff, and I win, and it’s sheriff Enrique Tarrio, well — stranger things have happened,” he said.
Will Carless covers extremism and emerging issues nationwide for USA Today.
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Department of Justice (.gov)
https://www.justice.gov › archives › opa › jury-convicts...](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/jury-convicts-four-leaders-proud-boys-seditious-conspiracy-related-us-capitol-breach)
May 4, 2023 — “Today, the Justice Department secured the conviction of four leaders of the Proud Boys for seditious conspiracy related to the January 6th ...
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Members of Proud Boys plan to sue Department of Justice for wrongful incarceration
WPTV reporter Joel Lopez speaks to members and an attorney about the suit
Photo by: Joe Biggs
Members of the Proud Boys are in Washington D.C. pursuing a case against the Department of Justice.
By: Joel Lopez
Posted , Feb 19, 2025
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Members of the group the Proud Boys are in Washington, D.C. pursuing a case against the Department of Justice.
Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs, Dominic Pazzola, Ethan Nordean, and Zachary Rehl arrived at the nation's capital on Wednesday.
Joe Biggs tells WPTV what this lawsuit means for him and other members
It's the first time the group has been together and in D.C. since the events that took place January 6, 2021.
"Luckily, we're at the seat of power now in D.C.," said Biggs.
Biggs said the group known as the Seditious 5 are preparing to sue the Department of Justice for $150 million.
"It looks like financial retribution, it looks like liberation, it looks like freedom," said Biggs.
They're claiming wrongful incarceration, following recent pardons and anticipated dismissals of their cases.
Biggs said he was sentenced to 17 years in prison and served four years before he was released.
"They took everything from me and my buddies, and we're going to take everything from them," said Biggs.
Biggs attended the Presidents' Day rally in West Palm Beachon Monday, hoping to get the attention of President Donald Trump as he exited his golf course.
"I'm happy to be out but now I'm more of a burden for my family, because I can't support my daughter. I'm still a terrorist, a felon. I can't get a job, I can't get a house, I can't buy anything," said Biggs, who is expecting his case to be dismissed, "I'm a military vet with no access to the VA now. I don't get my pension anymore."
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Enrique Tarrio says he has no remorse for Jan. 6
Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys who was one of the 1,000+ pardoned, was also at the rally. Tarrio said he was given a 22-year sentence and was released after three years.
"The relief didn't come on Jan. 21, when I was released. My relief came first for the country when we elected Donald J. Trump to be the 47th president of the United States," said Tarrio. "That was a day. That was the end of tyranny for me and for everybody standing here."
Former president of the Florida bar, Michelle Suskauer said prosecutors, like the DOJ, have immunity protecting them from liability when moving a case forward.
"If they're suing a governmental agency, they certainly have to jump through all the hoops that are necessary in order to do that," said Suskauer. "If prosecutors didn't have some immunity, then there would be a chilling effect and they wouldn't feel that they had the freedom to file the charges that they do. It's interesting territory that we're in right now, in terms of understanding what happens moving forward."
Suskauer said the DOJ may not have absolute immunity if the Proud Boys can prove that prosecutors created, or witheld, evidence from the defense, then they might have a warranted wrongful incarceration case.
As to whether pardons and dismissals will play a role is unknown.
"We know what's happening on these individual cases, but based on that, does that necessarily mean that the initial prosecution, based on evidence that the Department of Justice had at the time, was improper in any way," Suskauer said, "and that's what the court is going to have to decide."
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it was supposed to be a defiant return to the Capitol for the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and their far-right allies who were pardoned by Donald Trump for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the halls of Congress.
It ended with the arrest of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio for allegedly assaulting a protester who got in his face.
Tarrio and other prominent former Jan. 6 defendants had gathered at the Capitol on Friday for a press conference, pledging to seek legal revenge against the government that jailed them. But a handful of demonstrators was also nearby, loudly heckling the group.
After the press conference, one of those demonstrators put her hand near Tarrio’s face as he was speaking with a photographer. Tarrio swatted it away. Capitol Police officers quickly surrounded him, handcuffed him and took him into custody. The police later described the incident as a simple assault, a type of misdemeanor.
The episode provided a moment of historical symmetry for the Capitol Police, who arrested Tarrio four years after he helped organize a group of Proud Boys that formed the vanguard of the riot that injured 140 law enforcement officers and threatened the transfer of power. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in prison but was freed by a Trump pardon as part of the president’s grant of mass clemency to Jan. 6 defendants.
Minutes before the scuffle — which a POLITICO reporter witnessed — Tarrio was flanked by dozens of other newly pardoned Jan. 6 defendants, including several other Proud Boys like Seattle’s Ethan Nordean and Oath Keepers leaders, like Stewart Rhodes, who were similarly convicted of seditious conspiracy. Richard “Bigo” Barnett, who infamously propped his feet on a desk in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Capitol suite, was there. So was Guy Reffitt, who carried a pistol onto Capitol grounds and helped the mob advance to the foot of the building. New York Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, who stole a police riot shield and smashed a Senate-wing window with it, stood alongside Tarrio.
Others who played memorable roles in the mob were on hand as well, including Jake Lang, who escaped an imminent trial on assault charges, and Couy Griffin, the head of Cowboys for Trump.
The group recreated the route around the Capitol they took on Jan. 6, 2021, ending at the grass on the Capitol’s East Front. There, they posed for photos and chanted “Whose house? Our house,” a reprise of the chants that echoed through the halls of the Capitol while lawmakers and staff fled for safety.
At the press conference, arranged while many of the former Jan. 6 defendants were on a break from visiting the CPAC conference in Maryland, the former defendants pledged to sue the Justice Department. They hope the department welcomes their claims, given its leadership’s embrace of Trump’s assertion that the prosecutions were a “national disgrace.”
Tarrio seemed amused and bewildered by the arrest, grimacing as officers swarmed him and set up an impromptu perimeter. The woman involved in the incident had been trailing the group for an hour, shouting them down during the press conference, calling them “Nazis” and placing herself in front of their group photos while flipping them off.
After arresting Tarrio, the police interviewed the woman, who appeared to be uninjured.
Tarrio stood silently as police quickly put him in cuffs, patted him down and set up a perimeter in the shadow of the Capitol. He was then ushered into a police van and taken into custody.
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