(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Five members of the Proud Boys filed a $100 million lawsuit against the federal government after the Biden administration aggressively prosecuted them over the U.S. Capitol protests on Jan. 6, 2021.
Leading the lawsuit is activist Enrique Tarrio—sentenced to 22 years in prison despite never setting foot inside the Capitol—and fellow members Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola.
They were freed after President Donald Trump issued sweeping pardons to all J6 defendants on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump called them victims and political prisoners of a weaponized DOJ that targeted Republicans and conservatives.
The federal lawsuit is being led by attorney Thomas Ranieri, a partner at Ranieri & Associates, a firm based in Virginia.
At a press conference outside the White House, Tarrio described the harrowing ordeal he and colleagues endured while facing federal charges.
“For four years, we were persecuted, paraded across the country like trophies, confined in concrete coffins, and subjected to medieval torture devices,” Tarrio said.
“The Biden administration sought to crush us, to silence us, to strip us of our God given rights for the rest of our lives,” he continued.
Transcript from our presser.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I stand before you today not just for myself, but for my brothers Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. For four years, we were persecuted, paraded across the country like trophies,… pic.twitter.com/MKkmYyMQrn
— Enrique Tarrio (@NobleOne) June 6, 2025
Tarrio also affirmed that the DOJ knew he was innocent of the charges.
“They knew we were innocent of their baseless charges, yet their hatred for President Trump and his supporters fueled their weaponization of the justice system against us,” he continued.
Tarrio’s 22-year sentence, the longest of all J6-related cases, was met with praise from former Attorney General Merrick Garland and then-FBI Director Chris Wray.
“Today, the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, learned that the consequence of conspiring to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power is 22 years in federal prison,” Garland wrote in a press statement in 2023, shortly after Tarrio’s sentencing.
Wray echoed this sentiment, claiming he “will never condone the actions of those who break our laws.”
