March 8 (UPI) — Former national chairman of the extremist group the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Torrio was charged with conspiracy and other charges in connection with the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Federal prosecutors named the Miami native in a superseding indictment returned Monday in the District of Columbia that also includes five previously charged defendants. The Justice Department said he was arrested in Miami.
Along with Tarrio, 38, others indicted included Ethan Nordean, 31, of Auburn, Wash.; Joseph Biggs, 38, of Ormond Beach, Fla.; Zachary Rehl, 36, of Philadelphia; Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, N.C.; and Dominic Pezzola, 44, of Rochester, N.Y.
All were previously detained and entered not guilty pleas to charges, the Justice Department said.
Tarrio was arrested on Jan. 4, 2021, on a warrant charging him in Superior Court of the District of Columbia with the destruction of property on Dec. 12, 2020, burning of a Black Lives Matter banner.
He was released on Jan. 5, 2021, and ordered to stay out of Washington.
“The indictment alleges that Tarrio nonetheless continued to direct and encourage the Proud Boys prior to and during the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and that he claimed credit for what had happened on social media and in an encrypted chat room during and after the attack,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
The department said Tarrio and his co-defendants “conspired to corruptly obstruct, influence and impede an official proceeding, the certification of the Electoral College vote.” Prosecutor said they mobilized and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol.
Tarrio was indicted on one count of each conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of an official proceeding, along with two counts each of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and destruction of government property.
Authorities have arrested more than 775 individuals in connection with the Capitol attack from nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. The department said more than 245individuals have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
