Pardoned former Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio flew to his hometown of Miami on Wednesday with a message of revenge in his heart for those who jailed him for storming the Capitol.
Tarrio, 40, was emotionally reunited with 60-year-old mother Zuny at the international airport after President Trump joined other convicts in his January 6 release, one of his first executive orders upon taking office.
But after being released from a medium-security federal prison in Pollock, Louisiana, the far-right activist took to arch-conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars podcast and vowed revenge on the Jan. 6 commission — and the jury that convicted him of a seditious conspiracy.
“They didn't care what they were going to accuse us of, it could have been jaywalking, it could have been murder. That jury would find us guilty of anything,” he claimed.
He then seemed to speak of an all-encompassing 'they' and continued: 'They didn't care about the evidence. They felt it was important to put Trump supporters in jail.”
Tarrio, who received a 22-year prison sentence for storming the Capitol in 2021 amid baseless claims that the 2020 election was “stolen,” then chillingly warned: “Well, now it's our turn.
“I'm glad the president is not focusing on retaliation but on success, but I'll tell you, I'm not going to play by those rules.”
“The people who did this must be feeling the heat. They should be put behind bars and prosecuted.”
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys convicted of orchestrating the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021, was pardoned by President Donald Trump. He is pictured at Miami International Airport after flying home from a medium-security federal prison in Pollock, Louisiana
Tarrio, who had served a 22-year prison sentence, hugs his 60-year-old mother Zuny
Tarrio plants a kiss on his fiancée after being found guilty of multiple crimes, including seditious conspiracy, in May 2023
Tarrio walks out of the airport as passersby follow him and reporters follow him
Despite the last-minute preemptive pardon granted by outgoing Joe Biden to Liz Cheney and other committee members on January 6, he continued: “They pardoned the J Six committee? Well… they should be jailed.
'We have to find them and put them behind bars for what they have done. They have to pay for what they did.”
Jones, ordered to pay $1.487 billion in damages for defamatory falsehoods about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, then urged him on, saying, “We need to put the deep state in jail. '
Tarrio's chilling vow of revenge came hours before he flew to Miami on a southwest flight from Dallas-Love Field airport, changing his travel plans after snow hit Louisiana.
Wearing a red top over a black Motley Crue T-shirt and a black Make America Great Again hat, he entered the hall into his mother's arms. The pair emotionally embraced for several seconds before heading for the exit amid a media medley of TV cameras and photographers.
Tarrio did not appear to comment on his incarceration or pardon as he was quickly led to a black GMC SUV with his mother and legal team among the crushes.
Fellow Miami Proud Boy member Gabriel Garcia, who was also pardoned by President Trump, was also at the airport for the homecoming. He told reporters that he had spoken to Tarrio and, “He's just happy to be back.”
Prosecutors had argued that Tarrio, who was not at the Capitol during the riot, played a central role in the violent chaos from outside Washington, DC. He was sentenced in May 2023.
Tarrio appeared to make no comment on his incarceration or pardon as he was quickly led to a black GMC SUV with his mother and legal team among the crushes.
Fellow Miami Proud Boy member Gabriel Garcia, who was also pardoned by President Trump, was also at the airport for the homecoming. He told reporters that he had spoken to Tarrio and: 'He's just happy to be back'
The former petty criminal from South Florida was national chairman of the far-right militant Proud Boys at the time he helped plan the march on the Capitol, court documents show.
His indictment said he and others had created a “Ministry of Self-Defense” and exchanged hundreds of coded texts about a plan to “storm the Capitol” and ring in the new year with “a revolution.”
As Tarrio watched the events on TV from a hotel room in Baltimore, prosecutors allege he messaged other members that he was “enjoying the show.”
Tarrio's pardon came amid about 1,500 others and 14 commuted sentences in connection with the attack, delaying the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 victory. About 140 law enforcement officers defending the building were attacked.
President Trump's sweeping order on Monday upended the largest prosecution in the Justice Department's history. The Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that on Tuesday morning it had released all of the more than 200 inmates held on January 6.
The president's order stated, “This proclamation ends a grave national injustice inflicted on the American people over the past four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”
Tarrio's mother, who has campaigned for his release since his conviction, said this week: “I knew we would be redeemed.”
Days after he was convicted in September 2023, she claimed Tarrio was a “pawn” for the Biden administration and that the case against him was a “witch hunt.” She said her family spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees defending him.
Pictured: Capitol Police officers in riot gear try to hold back a wave of Trump supporters trying to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021
Jacob Chansley, also known as QAnon Shaman, is pictured at the Capitol on January 6. Chansley was among those pardoned by Trump on his first day back in the White House
Tarrio's lawyer Nayib Hassan thanked Trump in a statement for his “timely and important decision to grant our client a full pardon.”
He added: “This marks a pivotal moment in our client's life, and it symbolizes a turning point for our nation. We are optimistic as we turn the page of this chapter.”
Following Tarrio's conviction, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves said, “No organization put more boots on the ground in the Capitol on January 6, 2021 than the Proud Boys.
“They were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitol's defenses and led efforts on the ground to storm the seat of government.
“The leaders of the Proud Boys and the leaders of the Oath Keepers, who conspired before, during and after the siege of the Capitol to use violence against their own government to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, have now been held accountable.”
Christopher Wray, then FBI director, said: “Today's sentencing shows that those who attempted to undermine the functioning of American democracy will be held criminally accountable.”
Tarrio was not in Washington on January 6 following a judge's order to stay away after he was arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter flag from a black church in DC.
Many of those pardoned in the executive order and now released from prison were caught on camera brutalizing police.
Pictured: January 6 rioters clash with police as they try to break through metal barriers
Both Pam Bondi, Trump's pick for attorney general, and Vice President JD Vance broke with Trump by pardoning violent offenders on Jan. 6
Ironically, Pam Bondi, President Trump's attorney general, indicated during her confirmation hearing that she did not think violent rioters should be pardoned. She told lawmakers she condemned the violence against police.
And new Vice President JD Vance also veered from Trump's line earlier this month when the move was being considered — saying, “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you should not be pardoned.”
Former Army captain and fellow Proud Boy member Garcia, 44, celebrated his pardon by cutting off his ankle monitor just as President Trump signed the executive order. He cut it loose to cheers and a viewing party on Inauguration Day in Miami.
The 15-year veteran was arrested the day of the riot. That led to two years of house arrest and a monitor for four years. “I was facing 27 years in prison, 27 years, because I walked into a building with a flag,” he told CBS Miami.
Garcia, a former member of the Miami-Dade GOP Executive Committee, was sentenced last December to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution costs after being found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding and disrupting law enforcement during a civil unrest.
He had to report to prison on February 7.
He said after Monday's inauguration: “I didn't hurt anyone, I didn't destroy anything, I didn't burn down a city and I certainly didn't go in there to stop any process or kill anyone.”
