January 1, Proud Boys leader requests early release over poor jail conditions

The leader of the far-right group The Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, asked a judge to grant him early release over poor jail conditions.

“I’ve been to jail before and what I’ve seen here, I’ve never seen anywhere else,” Tarrio said. “This place needs to be shut down immediately.”

Tarrio is serving out a five-month sentence. He asked that his sentence be reduced that he be allowed to complete it under house arrest. Tarrio claimed that correctional officers had harassed him, and his cell is regularly flooded with sewage.

“I’m deathly afraid that something is going to happen to me,” Tarrio said.

“Mr. Tarrio has been intimidated and antagonized by correctional staff to dissuade him from making complaints about the horrendous conditions,” Tarrio’s attorney, Luca Dansie, wrote in court documents.

On Jan. 4, police pulled Tarrio over on his way to Washington, DC, for the rally at the US Capitol. He had a warrant for his arrest for vandalizing a Black Lives Matter sign stolen from the Asbury United Methodist church the previous month.

Judge Jonathan Pittman said he would rule by the end of the week on whether he will reduce Tarrio’s sentence to 90 days.

“It’s obviously distressing to hear of these conditions,” Pittman said. “I come back to the same question: how is Mr Tarrio’s condition any different than any other inmate at the jail?”

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Proud Boys leader asks for early release over jail conditions