U.S. Capitol Police arrested former Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio an exchange with a woman who arrived to protest a news conference he called outside the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio, 43, was charged with assault after authorities say she shoved her phone in his face and he struck her phone and arm. Officers witnessed the exchange on Friday, reports the Washington Post. Tarrio said, “I have no problem with people screaming or bullhorn if us but the moment you put your hands on me...which she did...I’m reacting. In this case...I launched her phone.” The confrontation came after Tarrio announced plans to file a lawsuit against the Department of Justice over the Capitol riot prosecutions “for their murders, their lies and the endless suffering they have put us through.”
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes said he will file a separate lawsuit. These suits could force the Trump administration either to defend the prosecutions related to the Jan. 6 attack or pay damages to the Proud Boys at taxpayers’ expense. Tarrio and other speakers at the news conference were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison, spoke a month after President Trump pardoned virtually all Capitol riot defendants and commuted the sentences of the other 14. “The government overplayed their hand. They thought we would break,” Tarrio said. “They thought we would fail. But look at us now.” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) expressing his concern that Tarrio and Rhodes returned to the Capitol on Friday and requesting Johnson “take meaningful action by acknowledging and condemning the violence that occurred on January 6th.”
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