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How Local Law Enforcement Could Help Prevent Another Jan. 6-Style Insurrection

September 20, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, at left, and group member Joe Biggs were sentenced to many years in federal prison. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, at left, and group member Joe Biggs were sentenced to many years in federal prison. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

By Matthew Valasik and Shannon Reid

Some of the most prominent members of the Proud Boys, a far-right militant group that functions more like a street gang than a militia, have been sentenced to long terms in federal prison for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Experts declare that these successful prosecutions by the U.S. Justice Department will not only discourage far-right groups but also deter people from joining them and engaging in future criminal activity.




Group chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison after being found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Group leaders Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs and Zachary Rehl were also found guilty of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18, 17 and 15 years, respectively. Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member who breached the Capitol building with a stolen police riot shield, was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy but was convicted of a variety of felonies, including assaulting a police officer, robbing government property and obstructing an official proceeding – and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

But despite the lengths of those sentences, prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to impose even harsher ones, claiming the offenses were related to terrorism. Kelly, however, ruled that claims of terrorism overstate the conduct of the Proud Boys sentenced.

That fits with our analysis of the Proud Boys. As scholars who study street gangs and far-right groups, we see that the larger law enforcement community continues to focus – we believe mistakenly – on the belief that, like terrorist groups, white supremacists are coordinated in ideology and intent. Evidence shows that perception actually diverts local police agencies’ attention from identifying and managing these groups.




Gangs are generally defined as durable, street-oriented groups whose own identity includes involvement in illegal activity. We believe that if police had treated Proud Boys as members of a street gang from the group’s inception in 2016, the events of Jan. 6, 2021, might have been avoided, or at least reduced in severity.

The trouble with fighting domestic terrorism

The United States lacks explicit laws banning domestic terrorism, in part because they are constitutionally controversial and may target unintended groups.

That problem has arisen with other criminal laws, such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which was designed to specifically target organized crime groups, like the Italian Mafia. The application of RICO, however, has been adapted and used aggressively against Black, Latino and Indigenous groups and political protestors.

Nevertheless, some have suggested that passing laws defining and outlawing domestic terrorism would be the best way to deal with the threats posed by the Proud Boys and other far-right extremists.




But when Canada and New Zealand designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization, that did not eliminate white supremacists from those countries. It merely forced them to rebrand themselves with a new name and logo. Treating Proud Boys solely as members of a terrorist organization does not actually stamp out white supremacy groups.

Instead, this perception hurts local law enforcement’s ability to recognize local, disorganized, far-right groups as street gangs and not terrorist groups. Police discretion is immense. Time and again, police have been documented ignoring Proud Boys violence and intimidation. Failing to arrest members explicitly observed in criminal infractions has only encouraged future acts of violence. Furthermore, local law enforcement’s history of failing to investigate and arrest members of far-right groups forces the federal government to be solely responsible for prosecuting them.

Two men stand in an open space inside a building.
Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola, center with police shield, was among those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Once a gang, always a gang

From the very start, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes explicitly declared the group a “gang.” Local police across the U.S. actively investigate and prosecute gangs, especially those whose members are Black, Latino and other people of color.

Proud Boys are predominantly white men who also intimidate and threaten communities around the U.S. with disorderly conduct, public harassment and more serious violence, including battery, assault, murder, rioting and hate crimes. This “cafeteria-style” offending is quite common among gang members participating in a range of criminal activities.




But, perhaps because of the Proud Boys’ claims to be just a “western chauvinist” men’s club, local law enforcement agencies have tended not to treat the Proud Boys and other far-right groups as street gangs. Such increased scrutiny by police of their criminal activities would have produced a much greater deterrent effect. Instead, the lack of acknowledging the Proud Boys’ violent criminal behavior only emboldened them further.

In fact, police have either remained idle or even consorted with Proud Boys members at recent protests, even giving them high-fives, as observed in Columbus, Ohio, at a demonstration against the “Holi-drag” story time event. This type of police engagement is just one element of how police ignore the threat of white supremacy and its followers.

Broadening the concept of gangs

Many Proud Boys fail to exhibit remorse for their actions. Pezzola declared “Trump won!” as he exited the federal courtroom after his sentencing. Tarrio is now positioning himself as a political prisoner to rally support from the GOP.

This raises our concerns that Proud Boys members will continue to be active and violent. Research finds it is effective for police to systematically monitor and target groups that exhibit violent behavior and that doing so deters future acts of violence.

Sometimes, new laws can help. In Alabama, for instance, a law enacted in June expands the legal definition of groups police might be concerned about. Instead of using a specific term like “street gang,” as most states do, the Alabama law defines a “criminal enterprise” as any group of three or more people who engage in a pattern of criminal activity. Such an approach aids in removing the bias in law enforcement that street gangs are composed only of urban youth.

We hope that police will collect and share information about far-right groups’ criminal acts with other agencies to help identify people who are active in various areas of a state or even around the country. But in the end, the evidence shows that the Proud Boys, like any street gang, remain primarily localized groups that are best dealt with by local police, not federal agents.

Matthew Valasik is Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama. Shannon Reid is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte.

The Conversation arose out of deep-seated concerns for the fading quality of our public discourse and recognition of the vital role that academic experts could play in the public arena. Information has always been essential to democracy. It’s a societal good, like clean water. But many now find it difficult to put their trust in the media and experts who have spent years researching a topic. Instead, they listen to those who have the loudest voices. Those uninformed views are amplified by social media networks that reward those who spark outrage instead of insight or thoughtful discussion. The Conversation seeks to be part of the solution to this problem, to raise up the voices of true experts and to make their knowledge available to everyone. The Conversation publishes nightly at 9 p.m. on FlaglerLive.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Deborah Coffey says

    September 21, 2023 at 2:05 am

    Well, by all accounts I’ve read, OUR sheriff played an encouraging role in the January 6th insurrection. Here’s one account with video: https://www.dailydot.com/debug/florida-sheriffs-flagler-liberty-coalition/

  2. Nephew Of Uncle Sam says

    September 21, 2023 at 9:41 am

    Still waiting for the FBI to visit Flagler County.

  3. Thomas Hutson says

    September 21, 2023 at 3:38 pm

    How Law Enforcement Could Help
    Number One – Law Enforcement should not be involved in participating or promoting their agenda!
    Number Two – Simply FIRE any current Law Enforcement Officer involved in the January 6, 2021 insurrection of our Capital. WE don’t need to wait for the FBI to come calling, get rid of them now. I can bet you they worry everyday if they will get caught, 26 years prison time is a very long time. In my world they are more “SCUMBAGS” than any member of that “Slime” Group called the “Proud Boys”!
    I personally laugh at their so called “INTIMIDATION and VIOLENCE”, their use of SWAT tactics like no one else knows swat tactics. WHAT A JOKE! Every law enforcement officer that I know, over 50 years of service takes an “OATH to SERVE, PROTECT, and DEFEND the CONSTITUTION and GOVERNMENT of THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA”! I took the same oath when entering the Army, entering my law enforcement career, and at every promotion level. These slime scumbags are very lucky they work for a leader that is just as bad or even worse! How they look in the mirror every day and tell themselves “HOW GREAT THOU ART,” is disgraceful!
    My brother officers in BLUE (Capital Police) suffered severe beatings and several have DIED FROM THEIR “tourist” VISIT TO THE CAPITAL. These slime scumbags wanted to “KILL THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, and LEADER of the UNITED STATES SENATE.” ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT officer taking part in that insurrection is a disgrace to their uniform.
    I admit, we had just returned to Flagler County Florida prior to the January 6, 2021 insurrection. I personally was not aware of the actions of our current law enforcement officers or the involvement of any of their members. I have heard about this group of “SO CALLED CONSTITUTIONAL SHERIFFS”. ONE QUESTION to any of this group, DID you or did you not take the Oath of your office? This group sounds like our own little MUSSALINI and Commander in Chief of his own private ARMY/Militia, want-a-be PRESIDENT. Like him, they want to pick and choose what they do and what laws they enforce. Any Sheriff believing in this group should be removed from office, hey, the GOVERNOR is great at that, removing office holders for a lot less!

  4. Atwp says

    September 21, 2023 at 7:10 pm

    Am glad they were sentenced to prison. Am surprised the Government is still sentencing these people, am very surprised they are being sentenced to prison because most of them are not people of color. Am very glad some whites people are paying the price for the crimes they commit. Was not always this way in this country. Am very glad some white people are finally paying the price for wrong doing. Didn’t think l would see whites getting punished for wrong doing, thank God I lived to witness this. Truly hope the punishment will continue.

  5. Robjr says

    September 22, 2023 at 2:14 pm

    22 Years.
    Boy that’s long.
    Bet the proud boy leader doesn’t even get a post card from the orange man.

  6. The Geode says

    September 22, 2023 at 4:11 pm

    They’ve been here several times over the past year …in the black community arresting nickel and dime drug dealers

  7. The Geode says

    September 22, 2023 at 4:26 pm

    I beg to differ. Had they been treated like the “gangs” that we know in OUR community; they would have been ignored to terrorize OUR community with drive-bys, robberies, assaults, carjackings, and innocents getting killed and wounded in crossfire or the lack of gun training. Shit like this is why I get so torqued with the above racist commenter that seems to harp on the micro of other races and ignore the macro of ours. Always comparing cherries to watermelons.
    That Jan 6 garbage is NOTHING compared to the stuff WE experience from the terroristic gangs the media turns blind eyes to because of perceived “bias”. You know what I am happy about? I am happy that terrorism is now spreading into YOUR lives, into YOUR communities, and into YOUR families. Who knows? Maybe we might get ole “Crime Bill Joe” to wake up from his nap and do what he does best – not give a damn about excuses and deal with the issues the rest of you are afraid to…

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