The sentencing of former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio was set to be sentenced Wednesday (August 30) in connection to the failed plot to keep Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election, which developed into the attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
However, the federal judge presiding in the case has postponed the sentencing to a later date, the Washington Post reported.
According to a spokesperson for the Washington US attorney's office, the court was not proceeding with the sentencing "[d]ue to an emergency," with more information to be provided as it becomes available.
The Associated Press previously reported that prosecutors are seeking to imprison Tarrio for 33 years despite him having been arrested and ordered to leave Washington by the time his organization joined thousands of Trump supporters in storming the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify the electoral victory of Joe Biden.
His arrest was connected to his defacing a Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier rally in Washington.
However, prosecutors also said Tarrio organized and led the group's assault from afar, inspiring followers with his charisma and penchant for propaganda. Dozens of Proud Boys members were the first rioters to breach the Capitol.
Seditious Conspiracy
Tarrio, 33, and three of his lieutenants - Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl - were among the top targets in the Justice Department's manhunt for the ringleaders of the Capitol riot, having been charged with seditious conspiracy - a US Civil War-era crime the Attorney General's department gave to members of far-right groups playing a key role in the attack.
"Using his powerful platform, Tarrio has repeatedly and publicly indicated that he has no regrets about what he helped make happen on January 6," the prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
The 33-year sentence prosecutors recommended for Tarrio was nearly twice as long as the harshest punishment handed down so far by the Justice Department in relation to the Capitol riot. The longest prison sentence prior to date went to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who received 18 years imprisonment for seditious conspiracy, as well as his conviction on other charges.
A fifth Proud Boys leader, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges.
Tarrio's Defense: Client Has History of Cooperation with Authorities
However, Tarrio's lawyers denied the Proud Boys had any plan to attack the Capitol, arguing that prosecutors have used Tarrio as a scapegoat for Trump, who spoke at the "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House on Jan. 6 and urged his supporters to "fight like hell."
The Proud Boys leader's defense team also urged the court to provide him at least a lenient sentence, citing Tarrio's history of cooperating with law enforcement. It was revealed in 2021 that he previously worked undercover and cooperated with investigators after he was accused of fraud in 2012.
Trump's Involvement
The latest developments follow the Justice Department's recent lawsuit against Trump for conspiring to subvert American democracy, as well as accusing him of plotting in the days before the attack to overturn the election results.
Trump, on the other hand, has insisted he did nothing wrong even if he surrendered himself to authorities in Atlanta in relation to a Georgia election case. As for his involvement in the Capitol riots, his trial was scheduled for March 4, 2024.
It should also be noted that Trump remained to be an early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
