Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio were released from prison on Tuesday, this coming after President Trump granted pardons to more than 1,500 defendants who faced charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In addition to the clemency grants, Trump directed the Justice Department to ask for the dismissal of about 450 cases that are still being litigated.
Rhodes and Tarrio’s attorneys confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday they had been released hours after Trump pardoned, commuted the sentences of, and/or ordered the dismissal of cases against all those charged with federal crimes in the Capitol riot. Tarrio, of Miami, had led the Proud Boys from 2018 to 2021, and also worked as the Florida state director of Latinos for Trump. He was 16 months into a 22-year prison sentence on seditious conspiracy and other charges. Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, was almost 20 months into an 18-year sentence for the same offense.
Unlike many of the Jan. 6 defendants, neither Tarrior nor Rhodes actually set foot in the Capitol Building during the ransacking of the legislative seat, however, they were charged with helping to plot out the attack. Rhodes and others had stockpiled tactical gear and firearms, and he also stepped into restricted Capitol grounds while directing his Oath Keepers militia members as the chaos unfolded. Tarrio was not in Washington, DC on the day of the riot, but prosecutors highlighted text messages he he exchanged with members of the mob.
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