This sentencing is beyond shocking.
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has been handed a prison sentence of 22 years following the January 6th Capitol protests.
While it is certainly true that Tarrio had a role in these events, he did not even enter the U.S. Capitol Building itself – yet he still received one of the longest sentences out of all those involved.
This begs an important question: why are individuals like Tarrio facing such lengthy jail terms while others who have committed far worse crimes receive no punishment at all?
At his sentencing hearing, prosecutors argued that Tarrio’s actions were “calculated acts of terrorism” and asked for him to be given 33 years in prison.
This was eventually reduced to 22 years after taking into account some mitigating factors but still represents one of the harshest sentences handed down in connection with the January 6 riots.
Interestingly enough, other co-defendants including Joe Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Ethan Nordean each received between 15 and 18 years – much less than what prosecutors originally sought for Tarrio himself.
Independent reporter Julie Kelly pointed out that he wasn’t even present on Capitol Hill when it happened as he had already been detained after a BLM banner burning incident back in December 2020,yet none of these details seemed to matter when considering his sentence length.
Despite claiming he had no intentions to harm or change election results during his hearing and pleading for mercy from Judge Timothy Kelly, Tarrio ultimately received severe consequences due to being labeled as a terrorist by prosecutors – something which may have been motivated by his affiliation with more conservative ideologies rather than any real crime committed on January 6th itself.
It is quite clear that there is a double standard between how left-wing rioters are treated versus those with right-wing beliefs when looking at recent court proceedings stemming from protests over the past year or so.
Take Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots as an example: 99% percent of charges against those involved were dropped without consequence while many conservatives like Enrique Tarrio face long jail terms even though they didn’t actually enter or destroy property within the U.S Capitol Building itself.
