Judge Denies Proud Boys Leader’s Request for Early Release

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the leader of the alt-right Proud Boys who is serving a five-month sentence for stealing and burning a Black Lives Matter banner from a D.C. church in December, had his request for early release denied by a judge who ruled that poor living conditions in the jail are not a sufficient reason for Tarrio to be released and placed under house arrest.

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D.C. Superior Court Judge Jonathan H. Pittman acknowledged that he believes Tarrio’s allegations regarding jail conditions and the mistreatment he’s faced but said Tarrio didn’t prove any “extraordinary and compelling reasons” for why he deserves early release.

Tarrio received a 155-day prison sentence in August and began serving his sentence in September.  He had requested that his sentence be reduced to 90 days or that he be allowed to finish it in home confinement.

“I’ve been to jail before and what I’ve seen here, I’ve never seen anywhere else,” Tarrio told Pittman last week. “This place needs to be shut down immediately.”

“It is obviously distressing to hear of these conditions,” Pittman said at the time. “I come back to the same question: How is Mr. Tarrio’s condition any different than any other inmate at the jail?”

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.