DOJ ‘Asked Me to Lie About President Trump’ for Indicting Him: Proud Boys’ Enrique Tarrio

'They were trying to coerce me into signing something that’s not true.'

Then-chairman of the Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio (L), looks on while counter-protesting near the Torch of Friendship, where people gathered to remember George Floyd on the one-year anniversary of his death, on May 25, 2021. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio Jr., former chairman of the Proud Boys who was recently sentenced to prison, claimed that federal authorities allegedly tried to coerce him into signing a false statement implicating former President Donald Trump in the Capitol breach incident.

Mr. Tarrio, accused of seditious conspiracy to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison on Sept. 5. In a subsequent interview with media outlet Gateway Pundit, Mr. Tarrio said that prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) wanted him to sign a statement that proved “through several degrees of separation and connections, Tarrio had communicated with Trump regarding ‘plans’ for January 6.”