Ex-Proud Boys leader sentenced to 22 years for role in U.S. Capitol attack

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Prosecutors said it was a "calculated act of terrorism" and Tarrio had endorsed the use of misinformation. Judge Kelly also sentenced two other far-right leaders to 18 years. Over 1,100 people have been arrested and more than 630 have pleaded guilty. Five people died and 140 police officers were injured. Trump has been charged for trying to keep himself in power.

A former leader of the right-wing Proud Boys group was sentenced on Tuesday to 22 years in prison for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump trying to overturn his election defeat.

Enrique Tarrio was given the longest sentence so far handed down in connection with the January 6 riots despite not being present at the U.S. Capitol Building that day.

"This was a calculated act of terrorism," federal prosecutors said during a sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. "He practised, and he endorsed the use of misinformation."

Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy, for his role in planning the storming of the Capitol, when thousands of supporters of the Republican then-U.S. president sought to stop Congress from certifying the results of an election that Mr. Trump falsely claimed had been tainted by widespread fraud.

Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to sentence Tarrio to 33 years behind bars, saying he helped direct the attack from Baltimore.

Tarrio's attorneys had asked for a substantially shorter sentence.

Judge Kelly last week sentenced another far-right Proud Boys leader, Ethan Nordean, to 18 years, less than the 27 years prosecutors had sought. Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes in May was also sentenced to 18 years.