MIAMI (WSVN) - In the first prime-time hearing held by the House Select Committee about the January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol, federal investigators and witnesses detailed the alleged involvement of a former Proud Boys leader from South Florida.
Evidence mounted against the far right group and the man who led them, Cuban American Miami resident Enrique Tarrio, as investigators on Thursday night laid out what they had learned about the attack in the nation’s capital.
Marcus Childress, Investigative Counsel with the House of Representatives, mapped out a timeline of events.
“The investigation revealed that it was individuals associated with the Proud Boys who instigated the initial breach at the Peace Circle at 12:53 p.m.,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said members of the Proud Boys played an important role in what happened next.
“The defendants directed, mobilized and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol,” she said.
Documentarian Nick Quested said his crew followed Tarrio the night before the storming of the capital.
“We had no idea of any of the events that were going to subsequently happen,” he said.
The film crew’s footage is now key evidence.
“We drove down into the parking garage and filmed the scene of Mr. Tarrio and Mr. [Stewart] Rhodes and certain other individuals,” said Quested.
Childress said the meeting that took place was with the leader of the Oath Keepers, a far right anti-government militia.
“In footage obtained by the committee, we learned that on the night of January 5th, Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes met in a parking garage in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
“There’s mutual respect there. I think we are fighting the same fight, and I think that’s what’s important,” Tarrio is heard saying in the footage.
Investigators said the Proud Boys made their plans and then carried them out using encrypted online chats.
“In documents obtained by the Department of Justice, Mr. Tarrio said in an encrypted chat, ‘Make no mistake’ and ‘we did this,'” said Childress. “Later on that evening, Mr. Tarrio posted a video which seemed to resemble him in front of the Capitol with a black cape, and the title of the video was ‘Premonition.'”
Tarrio was arrested at his Miami family home in early March. He and four other members of the Proud Boys are among those charged with seditious conspiracy, the most aggressive charge yet.
A judge has ordered that Tarrio remain in jail until his case goes to trial.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.