Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has been jailed for 22 years for helping plan the January 6 US Capitol riots.
Tarrio – along with three other members of the far-right group – was convicted of the rare charge of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors say was an attempt to overthrow democracy.
Described as a street gang and a hate group, the Proud Boys have been designated as a terror group in two countries – Canada and New Zealand.
At the trial earlier this year, assistant US attorney Jason McCullough said in the days after the 2020 US presidential election the defendants had started “calling for action, calling for war, if their favoured candidate was not elected”.
Tarrio made an apologetic statement today at his sentencing, where he was handed the longest jail term to date among more than 1,100 Capitol riot cases.
Prosecutors had sought 33 years behind bars for Tarrio and described him as the ringleader of a plot to use violence to shatter the cornerstone of American democracy and overturn the 2020 election result.
Although Tarrio was not present at the Capitol on January 6, because he had been arrested at a pro-Donald Trump event in the days beforehand, prosecutors say evidence suggests Tarrio “strategically calculated his arrest as a means to inspire a reaction by his followers”.
Image: Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio. File pic
Before the judge delivered his sentence, Tarrio gave a contrite statement, apologising to the police, citizens of Washington DC, politicians and his family for the events of January 6 and his actions.
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“To the men and women of law enforcement who answered the call that day, I’m sorry,” Tarrio said.
“I have always tried to hold myself to a higher standard and I failed,” he said. “I failed miserably. I thought of myself morally above others and this trial has humbled me.”
During his statement, Tarrio tried to explain his actions leading up to January 6, saying that his thoughts were initially clouded by anger at his candidate having lost the election and media he consumed which reinforced those beliefs.
“I was my own worst enemy,” he said.
Tarrio also rowed back on comments he had made comparing his co-defendant Dominic Pezzola to George Washington, words that appeared to irk Judge Tim Kelly when they came up earlier in the proceedings.
Image: Trump supporters outside the US Capitol building during the January 6 riot. File pic: AP
“I have matured, however the cost of that maturity has been steep,” he said, expressing remorse for letting down family members and for not being able to attend the funeral of a relative who he said raised him to be a better person.
Tarrio also sought to downplay his political involvement, saying that he did not intend to change the results of the election on January 6 but only planned on going to speak at an event, to support Donald Trump and to support his friends.
“I am not a political zealot,” he said. “When I get back home I want nothing to do with politics, groups, activism or rallies.”
Tarrio added that he wouldn’t be saying anything different when Judge Kelly left the room, an apparent reference to his co-defendant Pezzola who shouted “Trump won” after receiving his 10-year sentence last week.
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“God bless this entire court,” Tarrio said in closing.
However, while Judge Kelly said he was glad to hear the apologetic comments, he said he found the remarks lacking.
“I don’t have any indication that he’s remorseful for the actual things that he’s convicted of,” he said, calling Tarrio’s statement “better than nothing”.
The Justice Department is preparing to put Mr Trump on trial at the same courthouse in Washington on charges that the then-president illegally schemed to cling to power.
The Republican frontrunner to contest the 2024 presidential election earlier this month denied the four charges – of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
He also denounced the indictment as “a persecution of a political opponent”.
About 10,000 pages of records related to the assassination of Robert F Kennedy (RFK) nearly 60 years ago have been released publicly for the first time.
The senator, who was the brother of US president John F Kennedy (JFK), was shot dead at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on 6 June 1968, moments after giving his victory speech for winning California’s Democratic presidential primary.
His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving life in prison.
RFK’s assassination, much like his brother’s in 1963, has been the subject of much speculation.
His son, Robert F Kennedy Jr, previously said he believed his father was killed by multiple gunmen, an assertion that contradicts official accounts.
After the documents were released on Friday, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said they would “shine a long-overdue light on the truth”.
Many files related to the senator’s assassination had already been released, but the ones posted to the US National Archives and Records Administration on Friday had not been digitised and sat for decades in storage facilities maintained by the federal government.
The move is a continuation of the release of historic withheld files ordered by US President Donald Trump, in an apparent bid to prove the transparency of his administration.
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Trump announcing release of JFK files in March
It started when he signed an executive order back in January for the release of thousands of files about JFK’s assassination, many of which were made public in March.
The files gave readers more details about the US’s covert operations during the Cold War-era, but did not lend legitimacy to any of the many conspiracy theories surrounding the former president’s death.
RFK Jr, who is also Mr Trump’s health secretary, commended the president and Ms Gabbard for their “courage” and “dogged efforts” to release the files.
“Lifting the veil on the RFK papers is a necessary step toward restoring trust in American government,” he said in a statement.
In a statement, Ms Gabbard said: “Nearly 60 years after the tragic assassination of senator Robert F Kennedy, the American people will, for the first time, have the opportunity to review the federal government’s investigation thanks to the leadership of president Trump.”
Lawyers for RFK’s killer have been pushing for his release for decades, saying he is unlikely to reoffend or pose a danger to society.
A parole board deemed Sirhan suitable for release in 2022, but California governor Gavin Newsom rejected the decision in 2022, keeping him in state prison.
A different panel denied him release in 2023, saying he still lacked insight into what caused him to shoot RFK.
Buckingham Palace previously only said the visit would happen “when diaries allow”, but Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday: “I think they are setting a date for September.”
“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one,” he said.
“The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”
Image: Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: PA
Mr Trump will become the only elected political leader in modern times to be invited to two state visits by a British monarch.
The president called the UK a “great country” in his comments at the White House on Thursday and said it was “an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William”.
His first state visit was in 2019, when he was hosted by the late Queen.
Second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit usually get tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.
Image: The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
But Mr Trump is set to get all the pomp and ceremony laid on again in his honour – with another state banquet likely at Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Family‘s soft power diplomacy is viewed as a way of currying favour with the president, who’s known for his love of the monarchy and links to the UK through his mother, who was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
It comes as the government seeks an economic deal with the US, in the hope of potentially lessening the impact of the president’s tariffs.
Four people are in hospital as police deal with an active shooter on a university campus in Florida.
Videos showed people running through traffic, fleeing the scene, around the time of the shooting at the student union at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee.
Local police were “on the scene or on the way”, according to an alert sent out by the school and students have been told to “shelter in place”.
The FBI is also said to be responding to the incident.
Image: Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school.
Pic: AP/Kate Payne
In a statement, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said it was “actively receiving and caring for patients” from the incident.
“At this time, details are still unfolding, and we do not yet have specific information to share. However, we want to assure the community that our teams are fully mobilised and prepared to provide the highest level of care and support to all those affected,” it added.
President Donald Trump said he was fully briefed on the incident and described it as “a shame”.
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He added: “It’s a horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place.”
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, in a statement posted on X, said: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.”
Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles raced to the campus around midday local time (5pm UK time) on Thursday.
As students streamed away from the area of the student union in their hundreds, some were visibly emotional and others were glued to their phones.
Dozens later gathered near the university’s music school, waiting for news.
Florida State University student Daniella Streety told NBC News of the chaos that unfolded at the scene.
She remained on lockdown in a campus building and said: “I did see them carry out one student in what looked like on a stretcher and kept them in the road until an ambulance was able to pick them up.”
Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the university’s main library when he said alarms began going off warning of an active shooter.
Police escorted him and other students out of the library with their hands over their heads, he said.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.