Proud Boys Leader Was an Undercover Informant For the FBI: Reuters

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The leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group, Enrique Tarrio, was an undercover informant for police, according to a shocking new report.

Reuters obtained court documents and transcripts from 2014, when Tarrio was credited for helping law enforcement bring a case against people accused of drug, gambling and human smuggling crimes. Vanessa Singh Johannes was the federal prosecutor during that hearing, and she told Reuters that Tarrio “cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes.”

Jeffrey Feiler, Tarrio’s lawyer at the time, is also on-record with Johannes as they implored the judge to reduce the prison sentence Tarrio and two co-defendants were facing for fraud charges from 2012. Johannes said Tarrio’s undercover role led to 13 people being prosecuted on federal charges, while Feiler described Tarrio as a “prolific” cooperator who put himself at risk to assist multiple investigations.

Tarrio denied his past as an informant, telling Reuters “I don’t recall any of this.” While he acknowledged that his sentence was reduced from 30 months to 16, Tarrio insisted that this was because he and his co-defendants helped investigators “clear up” questions about his own case.

Reuters says there’s no evidence of Tarrio’s cooperation with law enforcement since the 2014 case. He is now being looked into for his role with the Proud Boys ever since he became their national chairman in 2018.

The Proud Boys have come under major scrutiny by the media and by law enforcement over the last three weeks, due to their involvement with the pro-Donald Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Tarrio promised “record” turnout from the Proud Boys on Jan. 6th, and at least five members of the organization have been charged over the insurrection.

Tarrio did not take part in the riot since he was arrested two days earlier for property destruction and possession of illegal, high-capacity firearms magazines. These charges stem from his actions when the Proud Boys held their “stop the steal” rallies back in December, which plunged Washington D.C. into chaos.