WASHINGTON — Members of the Proud Boys street gang who rioted at the Capitol and were let out of prison by President Donald Trump staged a triumphant return to the Capitol on Friday.
After their celebration, the Capitol Police arrested Enrique Tarrio, a onetime leader of the group, over an altercation with a protester.
A police spokesperson said officers witnessed the protester put her phone in Tarrio’s face while they were walking away from the Capitol.
“Then the officers witnessed [Tarrio] strike the woman’s phone and arm,” the spokesperson said. “The woman told our officers that she wanted to be a complainant, and [Tarrio] was arrested for the simple assault.”
Tarrio and several other members of the Proud Boys, as well as members of the Oath Keepers militia, were sent to prison for seditious conspiracy and other crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Trump commuted their sentences during his first days in office, as part of his sweeping clemency for more than 1,600 rioters.
Tarrio and a few dozen other freed Jan. 6 rioters left the Capitol grounds on Friday following a reunion of sorts they’d organized to celebrate their release. They announced a lawsuit against the Justice Department and falsely claimed the government provoked the riot.
“We will not allow the government to rewrite history. We will not allow them to control the narrative. We will not stand idly by,” Tarrio said, adding that the suit would be funded by proceeds from a Proud Boys-themed crypto token.
A handful of protesters with bullhorns tried to disrupt the event and continued heckling the group as they walked toward Union Station. A video from the scene shows part of a confrontation with Tarrio in which he throws a protester’s phone.
