This boost for Jan. 6 defendants leads experts to fear political violence will be seen as more acceptable in American life.

Leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers said they're filing lawsuits against the Justice Department over the Jan. 6 prosecutions.

WASHINGTON − Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested Friday for simple assault after striking a protester’s phone and arm, according to Capitol police and was later released.

Upon resuming office, President Donald Trump immediately pardoned roughly 1,500 people charged with and convicted of crimes for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Many, including within his own party, were stunned by the sheer volume of pardons, as they’d expected a more measured approach.

Tarrio was released from prison last month after President Donald Trump cut short his 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Members of the Proud Boys, the right-wing group that was a key part of the mob that broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, returned on Friday to Capitol grounds.

The former leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested on an assault charge near the U.S. Capitol on Friday. Police say that after speaking at a Proud Boys and Oath Keepers press event he assaulted a woman who was protesting by striking her arm and cell phone.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, center, speaks outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Feb ...

Proud Boys Founder Enrique Tarrio was arrested again Friday, moments after members of his group and fellow far-right miliia groupMembers of the Proud Boys and

Enrique Tarrio, who was pardoned for his role in the Capitol attack, had appeared with other Jan. 6 defendants outside the very building at the center of the riot that sent many of them to prison.

Enrique Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys, was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on Friday following a press conference with other Proud Boys members and Oath Keepers’ founder

Tarrio announced plans to file a lawsuit against the Department of Justice. It could force the Trump administration to either defend the Jan. 6 prosecutions or pay damages to the Proud Boys.