Editor’s note: Several hours after this story was originally published, Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis of the Southern District of Florida ruled that Tarrio will remain in police custody as he awaits his trial. The DOJ argued that because of “Tarrio’s public comments aimed at chilling witnesses against his co-conspirators, as well as his own purported efforts to evade law enforcement, he poses a risk of obstructing justice should he be released.”
Original post below:
When prosecutors indicted Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio last week, they alleged that he had a document called “1776 Returns,” which detailed plans to overrun government buildings – including the House and Senate office complexes – in Washington D.C. on January 6th.
Little was known about the document – which does not specifically mention the Capitol – but a new report in The New York Times provides illuminating details:
Broken into five parts — Infiltrate, Execution, Distract, Occupy and Sit-In — the nine-page document recommends recruiting at least 50 people to enter each of the seven government buildings [near the Capitol] and advises protesters to appear “unsuspecting” and to “not look tactical,” the people familiar with it said.
After ensuring that crowds at the buildings are “full and ready to go,” the document suggests that “leads and seconds” should enter and open doors for others to go in, “causing trouble” to distract security guards, if necessary.
Should the crowds fail to gain entrance to the buildings quickly, the document suggests pulling fire alarms at nearby stores, hotels and museums to further distract guards or the police, the people said. It then says protesters should occupy the buildings and conduct sit-ins, even recommending slogans for people to chant, like “We the people” and “No Trump, No America.”
The document, according to The Times, is marked for “internal use,” but it contains a section called the “Patriot Plan,” that “appears to have been meant for public distribution.” It outlines a timeline for January 6th that ultimately culminates in storming government buildings.
It is unclear who prepared the document or who gave it to Tarrio, although investigators believe that one of Tarrio’s girlfriends may have given it to him, according to The Times.
Whatever its origins, “1776 Returns,” appears to be a major reason why Tarrio was charged with conspiracy related to the Capitol riot even though he wasn’t in town that day (a judge ordered him to leave the capital days earlier after he was arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter flag).
On Monday, prosecutors filed a memo asking a judge to detain Tarrio while he awaited trial. The court document confirms an earlier Reuters report that Tarrio met with Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, the day before the Capitol riot in a D.C. parking garage. The encounter was partially filmed by a documentary film crew trailing Tarrio and prosecutors allege that chatter about the Capitol was captured on an audio recording.
Rolling Stone adds:
The memo hints that more of the meeting was recorded. It reveals that Tarrio told “another individual” to not worry about authorities having gleaned the Proud Boys’ plans due to his arrest, “because he had cleared all of the messages on his phone,” adding that “no one would be able to get into his phone because there were ‘two steps’ to get into it.”