Proud Boys Chairman Pleads Not Guilty to Jan. 6 Charges

(Bloomberg) -- The former chairman of the right-wing Proud Boys group pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including conspiracy to obstruct Congress.

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio entered the plea Tuesday at a virtual hearing in federal court in Washington. He and about a dozen other members of the so-called “western chauvinist” group are all fighting charges that they helped plan the assault on the Capitol by a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters.

Tarrio, 38, was added about a month ago to one of the most serious cases stemming from the insurrection. He wasn't at the Capitol himself on the day of the attack because he'd been arrested a few days earlier for burning a Black Lives Matter flag at a historic Black church in Washington. But he helped plan the siege, the U.S. said.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday granted the Justice Department's request to vacate the May 18 trial date after the government said it needed more time to prepare the case after Tarrio was added. The judge, who didn't set a new trial date, rejected arguments from several defense lawyers who argued the trial should proceed as planned.

Locked Phone

The other defendants in the case, including regional Proud Boys leaders Ethan Nordean of Washington state and Joseph Biggs of Florida, all previously pleaded not guilty.

Defense attorneys, including John Hull, who represents Biggs, said the government waited too long to add Tarrio to the case. Hull said the government's explanation that the delay resulted from its inability to access Tarrio's seized mobile phone without his pass code “doesn't pass the BS test for me.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough said none of the defense lawyers are aware of the government's efforts to break into the phone, which ultimately succeeded. “There's no evidence dilly dallying” by the government, he said.

The men “mobilized and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol, leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property and assaults on law enforcement,” the U.S. said Tuesday. Tarrio allegedly “led the advance planning and remained in contact with other members of the Proud Boys during their breach of the Capitol.”

The Proud Boys and other right-wing groups have also been named alongside former President Donald Trump in a number of civil suits stemming from the riot, including one filed by members of Congress who allege their lives were put at risk that day.