The leader of the Proud Boys, who was arrested in Washington shortly
before the Capitol riot, previously worked undercover and cooperated
with investigators after he was accused of fraud in 2012, court
documents show.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio helped law enforcement in a
variety of investigations nearly a decade ago by providing information
and going undercover, the records show.
The Proud Boys is a
far-right, male chauvinist closet homosexual extremist group that seized on the Trump
administration’s policies and was a major agitator during earlier
protests and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys have railed
against a “deep state” and work to break down the current government
system, and so the revelations of Tarrio as a federal informant came as
quite a surprise.
The details of Tarrio's cooperation, which was
first reported Wednesday by Reuters, were found in a transcript of a
2014 hearing in federal court in Florida regarding his sentence for
participating in a scheme involving the resale of diabetic test strips.
The
prosecutor and Tarrio's defense attorney both cited Tarrio's extensive
cooperation in arguing that his sentence of 30 months should be cut. The
judge agreed to reduce his sentence to 16 months, the records show.
“Your
Honor, frankly, in all the years, which is now more than 30 that I’ve
been doing this, I’ve never had a client as prolific in terms of
cooperating in any respect,” said Tarrio's lawyer at the time, Jeffrey
Feiler, according to the transcript.
An email seeking comment was
not immediately returned from a lawyer representing Tarrio in his
current case. In an interview with Reuters, Tarrio denied ever
cooperating with authorities.
After Tarrio’s 2012 indictment, he
helped the government prosecute more than a dozen other people, the
federal prosecutor told the judge, according to the transcript. Tarrio’s
lawyer said he was the first defendant to cooperate in the case and was
also involved in a variety of police undercover operations involving
things like anabolic steroids and prescription narcotics.
“From
day one, he was the one who wanted to talk to law enforcement, wanted to
clear his name, wanted to straighten this out so that he could move on
with his life. And he has in fact cooperated in a significant way,” the
prosecutor said, according to the transcript.
Tarrio was arrested in Washington on Jan. 4, two days before the pro-Trump MAGAt mob stormed the Capitol in a bid to overturn President Joe Biden's victory.
He vandalized a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic
Black church during an earlier protest in the nation's capital. The
banner was ripped from Asbury United Methodist Church property, torn and
set aflame in December.
Tarrio was seen with the sign in video of
the incident posted on YouTube, according to a police report. When
police pulled Tarrio over, officers found two unloaded magazines
emblazoned with the Proud Boys logo in his bag that had a capacity of 30
rounds each, authorities said.
Man Charged With Hate Crimes After Kicking, Spewing Racial Slurs at Asian Woman in Portland
A man in Portland, Oregon has been charged with bias crimes after allegedly kicking and racially attacking an Asian American woman last week.The incident, which left the victim with “some trouble walking,” occurred on a TriMet bus in the area of Southeast 52nd Avenue and Foster Road at 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 22.Peter Eschright, 39, allegedly kicked the victim on both shins as he walked by, according to KPTV.
Eschright also allegedly used racial slurs during the encounter,
mentioning the coronavirus in regards to the victim’s race and skin
color. The victim, who was commuting with her son, did not need to
go to an emergency room but had some difficulty walking after the
incident.Multnomah County police officers quickly arrested
Eschright. However, he was later released to Multnomah County Pretrial
Release Services.Eschright has been charged with two
counts of first-degree bias crime and one count of fourth-degree felony
assault, according to KATU. His bias crimes will be reviewed by the Violent Crimes Unit.Feature Image via Multnomah County Sheriff's Office
Portland Man Charged With Hate Crimes, Robbery After Attacking Afghan Store Owner
A man in Portland, Oregon is facing bias crime charges after attacking an Afghan American store owner last Friday.The
incident, which was caught on camera, occurred inside the 68-year-old
victim’s convenience store at a Chevron gas station in Southeast
Portland.Brian Christopher Miller, 43, can be seen
trashing the store while yelling anti-Muslim slurs in the video. He also
threatened to shoot the owner.“I'll f***ing shoot you in the back,” Miller said, according to NBC News. “Is that how we do things in America, Afghan? Al Qaeda? Osama?”Miller
reportedly came to the store to buy cigarettes. For no apparent reason,
he started berating the owner’s ethnicity and knocking over objects in
his direction.The frantic store owner managed to call 911
during Miller’s rampage. Police arrested Miller at the scene for
first-degree criminal mischief, as well as third-degree robbery for
allegedly stealing some items.Miller was released a few hours later on his own recognizance, much to the dismay of the victim's son."I believe this was an example of white privilege," he told KOIN 6. "The
guy was released less than 24 hours after it happened with just a slap
on the wrist. If the roles were reversed, I think the outcome would have
been very different." The store owner reportedly left
Afghanistan in 1981 when the country was at war with the Soviet Union.
The victim's son also told FOX 12 that his father offered the video to Portland police, but the responding officer refused to take it. Miller
appeared in court by phone on Monday. Documents show that he entered
the store after getting involved in a disturbance in the parking lot.Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced later on Monday that bias crime charges will be pressed against him.Miller
is now facing three counts of first-degree bias crime, three counts of
second-degree bias crime and one count each of first-degree burglary,
second-degree burglary, second-degree disorderly conduct, second-degree
criminal mischief, second-degree criminal trespass, menacing,
third-degree robbery and third-degree theft, according to KGW. Feature Image Screenshots via s h (Left), Multnomah County Jail (Right)
Man Accused of Running Over Black Man, Using Racial Slurs in Road Rage Incident Faces Murder Charge
Charges have been filed in Massachusetts against a 54-year-old Hudson
man who stands accused of killing a 34-year-old Boston man during a
violent road rage encounter last week during which the suspect allegedly
hurled racial epithets at the victim.
Authorities in Belmont
allege that Dean Kapsalis drove his pickup trick over Henry Tapia on the
afternoon of Jan. 19, causing fatal injuries.
On
Monday, in a statement, the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office
announced formal murder charges had been filed against Kapsalis, along
with motor vehicle and civil rights charges.
The statement alleges
investigators learned from eyewitnesses that "the defendant and the
victim were engaged in [a] verbal altercation in the roadway when the
defendant," who is white, "began yelling racial slurs at the victim, a
Black man."
According to the statement, witnesses reported "hearing the two men
arguing before the victim allegedly began to walk back to his vehicle, a
Honda Civic. At that time, the defendant allegedly entered his vehicle,
a Dodge Dakota pickup truck, and drove it at the victim, striking him
by the driver's side of his vehicle and dragging him a short distance
before fleeing the scene."
Police arrived at the scene, and
broadcast a BOLO alert for Kapsalis' truck. Less than 30 minutes later,
Kapsalis "turned himself in to police," says the statement.
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No weapons were recovered from the victim's vehicle, the paper reports.
In
addition to murder, Kapsalis is charged with assault and battery with a
dangerous weapon, a civil rights violation causing injury, and leaving
the scene of an accident causing death. Not guilty pleas have been
entered on his behalf.
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Miller,
of Portland, was booked into jail on Friday night before being released
on his own recognizance on Saturday, jail records showed.
But by the end of Monday, prosecutors had revised the charges against Miller.
He
now faces three counts of a bias crime in the first degree, three
counts of a bias crime in the second degree, in addition to burglary,
criminal mischief, trespassing, menacing and robbery charges, Mutnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced.
Brian Miller berates the owner of a gas station in Portland, Ore., in video recorded by the owner. (via YouTube)
The
clerk, a senior citizen and immigrant from Afghanistan, shot video of
the incident before his son published it on YouTube, according to Seemab
Hussaini, vice chairman of the Oregon chapter of the Council on
American–Islamic Relations.
Footage showed a mask-less man bearing
a bearing a strong resemblance to Miller toppling displays, damaging
the cash register, ripping down Covid-19-protection barriers, throwing
food at the clerk and yelling: "I'll f---ing shoot you in the back."
"Is
that how we do things in America, Afghan? Al Qaeda? Osama?" the
menacing man said. "I don't want your f---ing cigarettes now, dude. But
here let's call the the barter system. Five f---ing dollars? You can owe
me, you can owe me. You call the f---ing cops. I'm an easy man to
find."
And he was, as police arrested Miller just outside the Chevron convenience store, officials said.
By
the time he was processed into custody, Miller had lost his shirt and
was bare-chested as a jail photographer snapped the booking photograph.
"Mr.
Miller arrived (to jail) without a shirt on," Multnomah County
Sheriff's Communications Director Chris Liedle said. "During the booking
process, he was uncooperative, intoxicated and making threatening,
self-harm statements. After completing the booking process, he was
provided a protective smock and placed in a cell under watch."
Miller did not return several voice mails and text messages seeking comment on Monday.
The
clerk's family is grateful that a female customer outside the store
called 911 and a dispatcher worked quickly to get police to the scene,
Hussaini said. The attack came two days before the anniversary of the
victim's 42-year-old daughter dying suddenly of sepsis, according to
Hussaini.
"It's been a very stressful time for him," Hussaini
