Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio's Alleged Past as Police Informer Detailed in New Report

The Proud Boys organization, designated as a hate group by the SPLC, has been a mainstay in headlines during the MAGA era of American politics.

January 27, 2021

Enrique Tarrio, known as the leader of the SPLC-identified hate group Proud Boys, is revealed in a new report by Reuters to have at one point been an allegedly "prolific" informer for federal and local law enforcement agencies.

In comments to Reuters, Tarrio denied working undercover.

"I don't know any of this," he said. "I don't recall any of this." Per the report, however, comments from a former prosecutor and a 2014 federal court transcript state otherwise.

According to Vanessa Singh Johannes, a former federal prosecutor in Tarrio's case, he cooperated with authorities "in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes."

A 2014 transcript, meanwhile, shows that both the prosecutor and Tarrio's attorney pressed for a prison sentence reduction for Tarrio and two other defendants who had pleaded guilty in a fraud case in connection with relabeling and selling stolen diabetes test kits. Tarrio's information, per the prosecutor, had assisted in the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges in other cases, as well as helped local officials in their investigation of an alleged gambling ring.

Among other things, Tarrio's past is said to have included going undercover and negotiating to pay $11,000 to ring members and—per an FBI agent—being a key element in local investigations centered on weed, cocaine, and ecstasy.

Earlier this month, Tarrio was arrested in D.C. ahead of the violent (and ultimately fatal) Capitol riot. He was ordered by a judge to vacate Washington and keep away from the area. At the time, he was charged with destruction of property and possession of high-capacity firearm magazines. He previously admitted to burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was on display at a historic Black church in D.C.