(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) In what critics and legal analysts called a stunning display of vindictive injustice, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment for his part in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, despite not even being present during the protests.
Tarrio’s sentencing followed his conviction on a Civil War-era seditious conspiracy charge, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, destruction of government property and three other related charges.
“The leader of the Proud Boys got 22 years in prison for J6 and he wasn’t even there,” wrote attorney Rogan O’Handley. “Does this mean we can start imprisoning BLM’s leaders for what happened during the summer of 2020?”
The sentiment and question was shared by conservative talkshow host Steven Crowder, who tweeted, “So Enrique Tarrio gets 22 years and he wasn’t even at the Capitol?! I’m looking forward to a similar sentence for Patrisse Cullors. After all her BLM lackeys burnt half the country to the ground in 2020. Justice for all, right?”
Not quite, as recent events made clear. Black Lives Matter protestors were cut a cool $4.7-million check from the City of Denver last month. The payment was part of a settlement with rioters who claimed they were selectively targeted for violating curfew, which the mayor had been forced to impose because of widespread vandalism, looting, arson and rioting in response to the 2020 death of George Floyd.
The city of Denver is paying BLM protesters $4.7 million for arresting them after they destroyed a city and burned buildings down on the same day Enrique Tarrio is sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for protesting an election.
George Soros and all of his minions are… pic.twitter.com/DgSi3DXxRy
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) September 5, 2023
The BLM money-making machine didn’t stop there. In a separate case, a federal jury ordered Denver to pay $14 million in damages to a group of 12 protesters who said police violated their constitutional rights during the riots.
Compared to the combined 82 years in prison for Proud Boys members shaking some fences and storming the Capitol, BLM protestors have been awarded upwards of $41 million from blue-state cities that were leveled during the 2020 riots. In addition to Denver, BLM rioters were gifted $9 million from Philadelphia and $13 million from New York City.
Meanwhile in sentencing Tarrio, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly embedded a terrorism enhancement when nailing him for damaging a Capitol barrier fence that he never came close to touching. Kelly included same terror enhancement for fence-shaking when he sentenced Proud Boys co-defendants Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl to, respectively, 17- and 15-year prison terms.
While conceding that Tarrio did not “directly” destroy the fence, “his intent on seditious conspiracy as found by the jury supports the application of this adjustment,” Kelly said, the Washington Examiner reported.
Federal prosecutors had sought a prison term of 33 years for Tarrio, who was expelled from Washington, D.C., two days before Jan. 6, after he was arrested for allegedly burning a BLM flag.
None of which mattered in the eyes of zealot prosecutor Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor Mulroe, who called the short-lived J6 riot that took no lives and was reportedly infiltrated by swarms of federal agents a “calculated act of terrorism” and different than “more familiar terrorism offenses that involve extremely lethal means” such as 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, the Examiner reported.
“This crime is different, but that difference does not detract from the gravity of what Mr. Tarrio and his co-defendants did,” Mulroe said.
Tarrio’s record-long sentence for Proud Boy J6 defendants drew a harsh backlash from Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, among many others.
“The Biden Regime just sentenced Enrique Tarrio to 22 years in prison for a riot he was not present at, for plotting to overthrow the government without his followers carrying a single firearm,” Kirk wrote. “You live in a country with political prisoners.”
-Enrique Tarrio sentenced to 22 yrs despite not even being in DC on Jan 6th
-Joe Biggs sentenced to 17 yrs for shaking a capitol fence on J6th
-Proud Boys convicted of conspiracy despite the court admitting they had no plan to "storm the Capitol"
-4 known suicides of peaceful…— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) September 5, 2023
Tarrio, who has been incarcerated for the last two years, expressed remorse before being sentenced, and said he had always held law enforcement in “high regard.” Tarrio told the judge, “We invoked 1776 and the Constitution of the United States, and that was so wrong to do. That was a perversion.”
The same sentiment was amplified by his attorney, who argued that “My client is no terrorist. My client is a misguided patriot” who thought “he was saving this country, saving this Republic.”
The 22-year prison term handed down for that crime was fiercely criticized, when compared to other actual violent crimes. Matt Walsh noted that “a court recently sentenced a serial child rapist to less than half of that time. 10 years for serial child rape. 22 years for January 6. Madness.”
Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison for "seditious conspiracy." He wasn't even in D.C. on "jAnUaRy SiXtH."
For context, the average prison length for
• rape: <14 yrs
• human trafficking: <10 ½ yrs
• child trafficking: 16 yrs
• murder: 17½ yrs— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) September 6, 2023
Tarrio didn't even meander! He was in a hotel room in Baltimore after having been exiled from D.C. for desecrating a BLM flag.
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) September 6, 2023
“The ‘justice’ system in America is completely broken,” wrote Trending Politics’ Collin Rugg. “The most extreme punishment is used for a certain group of people while the other group gets to use the “justice” system as their weapon and asset.”
Mark Pellin is an editor at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/sabrepaw70.
