Was Proud Boys leader a police informant? Enrique Tarrio went undercover to bust human trafficking, drug rackets
Chairman of the neo-fascist and extremist group Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, who was arrested two days before the Capitol riots, reportedly has a surprising past as an undercover ‘informer’ for federal and local authorities. A Reuters report revealed that Tarrio, who is now recognized as the face of the right-wing extremist gang which resorts to violence as their political strategy, was once an efficient undercover collaborator. Tarrio himself, however, denies this part of his past, which came to light through a 2014 transcript of a federal court proceeding. In an interview with Reuters, Tarrio denied working undercover and said, “I don’t know any of this” and “I don’t recall any of this.”
Tarrio's impressive work as an informer
Tarrio was arrested in 2012 and he has actively cooperated in federal and local investigations as an informer. He had pleaded guilty in a fraud case related to the relabeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits. He reportedly helped prosecute 13 people during that time in diverse cases, ranging from criminal organizations, marijuana grow houses in Miami, gambling dens or pharmaceutical fraud schemes. In fact, he even assisted the authorities in a human trafficking case.
Tarrio’s former lawyer Jeffrey Feiler had said in court that he, “at his own risk, in an undercover role met and negotiated to pay $11,000 to members of that ring to bring in fictitious family members of his from another country". Besides, he also aided the police in stopping the sale of anabolic steroids, wholesale prescription narcotics as well as human smuggling.
The information about his noteworthy past was confirmed by a federal prosecutor, an FBI agent and Tarrio’s lawyer in court. The FBI agent labeled him as a ‘key component’ of various police investigations involving drugs.
The chairman of 'Proud Boys'
The 36-year-old has now ventured quite far from his impressive past. Tarrio, based in Miami, became the national chairman of the Proud Boys group in 2018. He is now known for instigating violence and breaking the law quite often. After Trump’s loss in the presidential elections, Tarrio led the Proud Boys in multiple marches across DC streets. “To the parasites both in Congress and in that stolen White House. You want a war, you got one!” he had said in a war-cry to the other members.
In December 2020, Tarrio burned a ‘Black Lives Matter’ banner at a demonstration by Trump supporters. He was also charged with possession of two high-capacity rifle magazines. He arrived in Washington DC on January 4, 2021, two days before the Capitol riots, when the police wasted no time in arresting him.
However, the most surprising part is how Tarrio vehemently denies his participation as an ‘informant’ in the past, despite ample evidence and testimonials. He acknowledges how his fraud sentence in the past was reduced from 30 months to 16 months, but denies that his undercover cooperation was the reason. He stated that he obtained leniency in the sentence after he ‘cleared up’ queries about his case.
He stopped working as an informant ever since he joined the Proud Boys in 2017.