MIAMI – When he arrived back at Miami International Airport, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was overwhelmed by what he saw. A forest of cameras. Cell phones held aloft by well-wishers. Journalists, fans and onlookers clamored for a glimpse of the de-facto leader of the Proud Boys.
Tarrio, 40, had left Miami almost three years earlier as a prisoner. Disgraced, he faced the most serious charges levied from the Jan. 6 attack. A jury convicted him of seditious conspiracy and other crimes. Prosecutors argued he was a terrorist, the mastermind of a well-planned coup that only failed by the grace of God.
Now he was returning, if not as a hero, then as the protagonist in an American folk tale: revered by some, loathed by others and recognized by many, if not all.
“Are you waiting for Bad Bunny?” a woman in the crowd asked the assembled journalists, referring to the Puerto Rican reguetonero.
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, speaks with members of the media as he walks through Miami International Airport on Jan. 22, 2025 in Miami, Florida. President Donald Trump pardoned Tarrio, who was serving a 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy, along with more than 1,500 people charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
After President Donald Trump commuted their sentences last month for various serious crimes connected to the insurrection, Tarrio and the other top leaders of the Proud Boys find themselves contemplating the future.
Prison appears to have left a mark on these men. They no longer speak with the brash insolence that characterized their piloting of the mob they led to the doors of the U.S. Capitol. They have drunk some cold beers (except Tarrio, who no longer drinks alcohol) and taken their families out to sushi. They have slept in their own beds. And now they are making plans.
USA TODAY interviewed the four top leaders of the Proud Boys, who were all given lengthy prison sentences for their roles on Jan. 6: Tarrio (22 years), Ethan Nordean (18 years), Joseph “Joe” Biggs (17 years), and Zachary Rehl (15 years).
Their hopes and dreams are as lofty as they are hazy.
Tarrio speaks vaguely about entering politics. He doesn’t want to abandon the Proud Boys. But he also seems to recognize the limits of the group, which alienated swathes of America by associating with white supremacists and participating in violent street brawls with leftist counter-protesters and pro-LGBTQ+ groups.
Nordean talks cryptically about starting an organization that will “reclaim” American masculinity for young men. Rehl wants to run for Congress, but he doesn’t know what seat yet. And Biggs wants to reform the American justice system – with the help of Kim Kardashian.
These Proud Boys appear to have come a long way from strutting down Washington’s streets in wraparound sunglasses and Fred Perry polo shirts. A group that prided itself in its anti-establishment bona fides has now produced political martyrs, with a remarkable arc — from America’s most wanted extremist group to a badge of honor that could grant entry into the political mainstream.
But these men remain felons convicted of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to stop the peaceful transfer of power between former President Joe Biden and Trump. Asked if they were proud of their actions, all four unequivocally told USA TODAY they would do the same thing all over again.
A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll last month asked respondents to choose from a list of actions they didn’t want Trump to take. Pardoning Jan. 6 rioters came in a close second to investigating Biden officials and congressional Democrats.
And while it remains to be seen whether the Proud Boys leaders’ plans fizzle out or condense into something more solid, the group’s transformation follows a pattern that is not unheard of in the country’s history, said Brett Gadsden, an associate professor of political history at Northwestern University.
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Henry “Enrique” Tarrio speaks to USA TODAY following his release from prison. He was pardoned by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025 for his role in the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Tarrio is considered the de facto leader of the Proud Boys, an extremist group.
But Gadsden said he sees through the image these four men are seeking to portray. He noted other extremist groups have achieved the transition to the political mainstream by sanding down their roughest edges.
“For the Proud Boys, it would be difficult for them to legitimize themselves if they continue to rally around the kind of mantra of white supremacy, black inferiority, homophobia, hatred for gays and lesbians and trans folks,” Gadsden said. “That’s not the way to win favor.”
