Invasion of the Capitol: Leader of a rightwing extremist group is sentenced to 22 years in prison
In the United States, courts imposed the highest sentence in connection with the invasion of its Congress that took place in January 2021.
Enrique Tarrio was not in Washington on January 6, 2021. He had been arrested two days earlier and received a court order to leave the American capital. He traveled to Baltimore, a nearby city, and from there acted by calling Donald Trump supporters in an online chat room. After marching into Congress, he celebrated: “Make no mistake. We did that.”
32 months later, head of the rightwing extremist militia Proud boys in Portuguese “Proud Boys” received the bill for the greatest attack on American democracy: 22 years in prison. The greatest shame for the attack. He has been in prison since 2022.
Justice Department prosecutors presented hundreds of pieces of evidence showing that Tarrio helped plan and direct the attack to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in the United States and said he encouraged a civil war to impeach Donald Trump to hold power.
The defense denied that Tarrio’s intent was to overthrow the U.S. government and claimed that it was former President Donald Trump’s words that prompted the mob to storm the Capitol.
1 of 1 Invasion of the Capitol: Leader of a rightwing extremist group is sentenced to 22 years in prison Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction Invasion of the Capitol: Leader of a rightwing extremist group is sentenced to 22 years in prison Photo: Journal National/ Reproduction
At the hearing this Tuesday (5), the judge added an aggravating factor to Tarrio’s conviction: that of terrorism. He was convicted in May of the rare crime of conspiring to overthrow the American government and nine other crimes.
This is the largest investigation in the history of the Justice Department. More than 1,100 people have been charged with a crime related to January 6, including former President Donald Trump, who was indicted in August and accused of conspiring to change the 2020 election results.
Almost so far 800 people were convicted and sentences were set for more than 600. Nearly 400 were sentenced to prison for attacks on American democracy.
Former federal prosecutor and Notre Dame University professor Jimmy Gurule argued that accountability is crucial to democracy.
“People are held accountable at the highest and lowest levels. “I hope this sends a positive message to other countries, including Brazil, about the importance of accountability and how it can deter future acts of violence and attacks on democracy,” said Jimmy Gurule.