Enrique Tario, the president of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, has been arrested and charged with conspiracy for his alleged role in planning the January 6 attack, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
He is one of the most prominent defendants facing charges for his alleged involvement in the rebellion.
Although Tario is not accused of physically participating in the breach of the Capitol — or even in Washington DC at the time — the Justice Department stated that Tario "conspired to corruptly obstruct, influence, and obstruct an official proceeding." hatched, electoral certification college vote."
As the leader and producer of a special chapter of the Pride Boys known as the Ministry of Self-Defense, the 38-year-old "led advance planning and kept in contact with other members of the Pride Boys during the Capitol breach," according to prosecutors. .
The Justice Department also said it claimed credit for the attack on social media and in an encrypted chat room during and after the attack.
Tario was charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and another of obstruction of an official proceeding. He also faces two counts of assault, protesting or obstructing certain officials and destruction of government property.
Court documents state that D.C. Tario was barred from participating in the Capitol riot after pleading guilty to stealing and burning a Black Lives Matter banner hanging from a church and bringing a high-capacity magazine to the district. One of the conditions for his release on January 5, 2021 was that he should stay out of Washington.
Tario was arrested in Miami and is due to appear in his initial court in the Southern District of Florida. Tario's lawyer did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
Since the rebellion, the Justice Department has arrested more than 775 individuals in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the events of that day. More than 245 of them have been charged with assault or obstructing law enforcement.
Most recently, prosecutors have filed charges against the leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers - extremist groups that officials have long said were involved in the attack.
In January, federal prosecutors announced seditious conspiracy charges against oath-taking leader Stewart Rhodes. The charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. It is the most serious and comprehensive case to emerge from the federal investigation.
On the same day that Tario was arrested, a jury found the defendant guilty in the first trial of the events of January 6.
Guy Wesley Refitt, Texas, was convicted of traveling to Washington with a fellow member of a far-right militia organization called the Texas Three Percentors.
Experts say the unanimous guilty verdict is likely to affect how hundreds of other defendants will view their cases. As NPR's Tom Dresbach pointed out, "It is widely believed that this victory will give prosecutors an added advantage in plea negotiations with other defendants."
Tario was named in a superseding indictment returned Monday to the District of Columbia, along with five previously charged defendants — Ethan Nordian, 31, of Auburn, Washington; Joseph Biggs, 38, of Ormond Beach, Florida; Zachary Rehl, 36, of Philadelphia; Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, North Carolina; and Dominic Pezzola, 44, of Rochester, New York.