Pardoned Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has been pictured for the first time since being freed from his 22-year sentence for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots — calling for those behind the mass convictions to “feel the heat” and “pay for what they did.”
The 40-year-old figurehead of the controversial group wore a black “Make America Great Again” cap as he landed at Miami International Airport late Wednesday, where he was embraced by his mother and fiancé.
“My message to the president is: Thank you,” he told WPLG of President Trump’s day-one order to release those imprisoned for any involvement in Jan. 6.
“Thank you. Promises made, promises kept, and justice was served on Jan. 21, 2025,” he said of the mass release.
However, he had a far different opinion of the previous administration’s Department of Justice, accusing it of allowing “biased jury situations” to convict him and others with “evidence that would not be tolerated in any other district.”
“I honestly think that the prosecutors, Merrick Garland, Matthew Graves, they should be investigated, and if they committed any crimes, they should be prosecuted,” he told the local outlet.
Tarrio — who was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but was convicted of organizing the chaos from afar — shared an even stronger message on Alex Jones’ Infowars.
“I’m happy that the president’s focusing not on retribution and focusing on success, but I will tell you that I’m not gonna play by those rules,” he said forcefully.
“The people who did this, they need to feel the heat. They need to be put behind bars, and they need to be prosecuted,” Tarrio said.
“In this country, our case proves that you could be put in prison for anything. They need to be imprisoned. We need to find and put them behind bars for what they did.
“They need to pay for what they did,” he added.
President Trump wasted no time signing a slew of executive orders on Day 1, including those that:
- Direct DOJ not to enforce TikTok “divest-or-ban” law for 75 days
- Halt 78 Biden-era executive actions
- Withdraw from the Paris climate accord
- End all federal cases and investigations of any Trump supporters
- Revoke protections for transgender troops
- Pardon about 1,500 people criminally charged in the Jan. 6 attack, while commuting the sentences for six
- Overhaul the refugee admission program to better align with American principles and interests
- Declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border
- Designate drug cartels and Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations
- Reverse several immigration orders from the Biden administration, including one that narrows deportation priorities to people who commit serious crimes, are deemed national security threats or were stopped at the border
- Rescind a policy created by the Biden administration that sought to guide the development of AI to prevent misuse
- Rescind a Biden-era policy that allowed federal agencies to take certain initiatives to boost voter registration
- Rescind the 2021 Title IX order, which bans discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation in education programs that get federal funding
- Revoke Biden’s recent removal of Cuba from US state sponsors of terrorism list
- Order federal employees back to work in office five days a week
- Order a federal hiring freeze, including exceptions for posts related to national security and public safety and the military
- Direct every governmental department and agency to address the cost-of-living crisis
- Restore freedom of speech and prevent censorship of free speech
- End the “weaponization of government against the political adversaries of the previous administration”
- Impose 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada as of Feb. 1
- Reverse Biden sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank
- Reverse Biden order requiring 50% of new cars sold in 2030 be EVs
- Proclaim that there are two biological sexes: male and female
- End diversity, equity and inclusion programs within federal agencies
- Establish Department of Government Efficiency
- Institute enhanced screening for visa applicants from certain high-risk nations
- Reopen Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration
- Order attorney general, secretary of state and secretary of homeland security to “take all appropriate action to prioritize” prosecution of illegal aliens who commit crimes
- Withdraw US from Global Minimum Tax agreement
- Institute a 90-day pause in the issuance of US foreign aid
- Order the attorney general to pursue the death penalty for killing of a law enforcement officer or any capital crime committed by an illegal immigrant
- Order the secretaries of commerce and the interior to restart efforts to route water from California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state
- Withdraw the US from the World Health Organization
- Order Treasury Department to explore creation of External Revenue Service
- Revoke security clearances for ex-national security adviser John Bolton and 51 intelligence officials who said Hunter Biden laptop bore “classic earmarks” of Russian disinformation.
- Declare the border crisis an “invasion” and order the attorney general and secretaries of state and homeland security to “take all appropriate action to repel, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged” in such
- Formally rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and Alaska’s Mt. Denali to “Mt. McKinley”
The Miami native was freed after serving 16 months into his 22-year prison sentence — one of the longest sentences dished out by a judge in a Jan. 6 case.
Tarrio led the Proud Boys from 2018 until he was imprisoned. He told WPLG not to refer to him as an “ex” Proud Boy, saying it is still “our organization.”
He was convicted of seditious conspiracy for playing a key role in orchestrating the Proud Boys’ storming of the Capitol, partly based on text messages with other members.
Trump issued the controversial pardons Monday night hours after he was sworn in, staying true to his campaign promise.
A key police union that long supported Trump condemned the pardons for cutting free even those convicted of assaulting some of the 140 police officers injured in the riots.
“Allowing those convicted of these crimes to be released early diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families,” the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
