Supporters of former US President Donald Trump created shocking images in January last year: They stormed the Capitol in Washington with the aim of preventing the formal confirmation of US President Joe Biden. Five people lost their lives.
Since then, there have been repeated charges against those involved. Now the former leader of the far-right group Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, has been charged with “endangering the state”.
In an additional charge published on Monday, the allegations against Tarrio and four other suspects were supplemented by the more serious point of seditious conspiracy. This carries a penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment.
The judiciary does not accuse Tarrio, who was arrested in March, of personally taking part in the storming of the Capitol. However, he led the planning for the attack and was in contact during the attack with other members of the Proud Boys who had entered the Capitol.
Tarrio was arrested two days before the Capitol storm for burning a Black Lives Matter flag. The supporter of then President Donald Trump was initially released on condition that he stay away from Washington.
Tarrio is the second known far-right leader to be arrested and charged in the Capitol storm. In January, the founder of the far-right group Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, was jailed.
He too was charged with seditious conspiracy along with ten other members of the group. Three of them have already pleaded guilty.
Hundreds of radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 presidential election was to be certified there. The storming of the seat of Congress with five dead caused horror worldwide and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy. As a result, more than 800 people were arrested.
