Proud Boy leader spoke of ‘war’ before Capitol riot

The leader of the Proud Boys spoke of “war” in a speech weeks before the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021, according to court testimony Thursday.

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio also called politicians “parasites”.

Mr Tarrio and four other Proud Boys are on trial in Washington accused of seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the Capitol riot.

Prosecutors have been outlining the group’s words and actions prior to the attack.

“If you want a war, you’ve got one,” Mr Tarrio told followers at a rally more than three weeks before the Capitol attack, which occurred on the day lawmakers were set to confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The speech was witnessed by British documentary filmmaker Nick Quested, who was following the Proud Boys and testified on Thursday.

Mr Quested described how he had initially set out to look at political violence in an election year and narrowed his focus to the group after they were mentioned during a presidential debate in September 2020.

On 12 December 2020, he followed the Proud Boys as they held a march in support of Donald Trump in Washington. What began as a relatively peaceful protest later turned violent. Proud Boys swiped a Black Lives Matter flag from a church and burnt it, and members of the group fought with anti-fascist activists outside a bar.

Four people were stabbed the melee, including Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino. Mr Quested testified that he gave first aid to Bertino, who was badly hurt in the attack. Bertino later pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors. He might be called as a witness in the current trial.

Along with Mr Tarrio, who has since stepped down as the Proud Boys leader, the other men on trial are: Ethan Nordean, 31; Joe Biggs, 38; Zachary Rehl, 37; and Dominic Pezzola, 44, who was one of the first people to reach one of the entrances to the Capitol.

All except were at the Capitol on 6 January except for Mr Tarrio, who had earlier been ordered to leave Washington after being arrested for destruction of property – burning the Black Lives Matter flag – and weapons charges.

On Thursday the jury was shown a video of Mr Tarrio after his release from jail, saying: “I don’t need to be in DC to keep the fight going.”

Mr Quested also testified that on 6 January, Mr Biggs and Mr Nordean appeared to be leading a large group towards the Capitol. But under cross-examination the filmmaker said he was unaware of any plan to enter the building.

Defence lawyers plan to try to show that the invasion of the Capitol was spontaneous and that the Proud Boys were too disorganised to plot a conspiracy. Cross-examination of Mr Quested will continue on Friday.

The trial began last week and is likely to continue for at least another month. If convicted, the seditious conspiracy charge alone carries a sentence of up to 20 years.