Ex-Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Is Coming Home to Start a New "Political Organization"

Time appears to have slowed down for Enrique "Henry" Tarrio.

The Miami native and former leader of the far-right Proud Boys has spent the past 128 days in a Washington, D.C., jail after pleading guilty in August 2021 to burning a Black Lives Matter Flag and possessing high-capacity firearm magazines. For more than four months, Tarrio has sat in a cell, at times enduring what he described as "shitty" conditions, awaiting his return to South Florida's political scene.

But with only days until his January 14 release, the onetime leader of the notorious hate group says the time behind bars has given him time to think — and to decide he no longer wants to lead the Proud Boys.

"Once I get back and organize the mess in South Florida's Proud Boys, I'm gonna take a step back from leadership. It's something I should have done before, and that was my mistake," Tarrio tells New Times in a phone call from inside the D.C. jail.

Before his incarceration in September, Tarrio was the chairman and public face of the Proud Boys, a militant organization that describes itself as a men's drinking club with "Western Chauvinist" values and frequently brawls with leftist protesters at political events.

Read more: https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/proud-boys-enrique-tarrios-released-new-miami-organization-13691855