Proud Boys Leader: 'We're Going to Take a Chill Pill'

Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio says group will stay away from DC on Inauguration Day
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 15, 2021 1:00 AM CST
Proud Boys Leader: 'We're Going to Take a Chill Pill'
In this Sept. 26, 2020, file photo, Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio wears a hat that says The War Boys during a rally in Portland, Ore.   (AP Photo/Allison Dinner, File)

The leader of the Proud Boys has been banned from the nation's capital, and now he says the rest of the group is likely to stay away from Washington, DC, as well on Jan. 20. "We’re going to take a chill pill," Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, the far-right gang's chairman, tells USA Today. “I feel like this part of the battle is over." The newspaper reports that other far-right leaders and provocateurs are issuing similar messages amid an atmosphere in which many of their online gathering spaces are shuttering, the Capitol is being heavily secured, and those who stormed it on Jan. 6 are being rounded up and arrested. But one official warns that not all far-right extremists are associated with a group, and violence could still occur. The AP reports the FBI is monitoring an "extensive amount of concerning online chatter."

Meanwhile, Kyle Rittenhouse, the now-18-year-old charged with fatally shooting two people during the protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, over the summer, was spotted at a bar with Proud Boys members, flashing white power signs and being "loudly serenaded" with the group's official song, WTMJ-TV reports. Prosecutors are now asking that his bond agreement be amended to require that, among other things, he stay away from the Proud Boys and any other white power, white supremacist, or militia groups, and that he be barred from displaying white power or white supremacy signs, symbols, or gestures. Far-right protests are also being planned for Sunday in DC as well as all 50 state capitals, and Vox takes a look at how those locations are preparing for possible violence. (More Proud Boys stories.)

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