The Proud Boys is a far-right group with ties to white supremacy. But, according to reports, the group may also have ties to Trump, as Daily Mail reports its national chairman is also the Florida state director of the grassroots group, Latinos for Trump.
Enrique Tarrio, 36, is a Proud Boys national chairman who also ran for Congress as a republican.
During Tuesday night’s first presidential debate, Donald Trump told the Proud Boys to “Stand back and stand by” after he was asked to denounce white supremacy.
In turn, Trump’s son and spokesman tried to downplay his father’s comment, claiming he” misspoke.” But after backlash, on Wednesday, Trump formally denounced white supremacy and claimed that he had never heard of the group.
Although Tarrio has close ties to the Republican party and even has a picture with Donald Trump, Jr, a spokesman for the Trump campaign told the news publication that neither Tarrio nor his Latinos for Trump group are affiliated with Trump’s official reelection campaign group the “Latinos for Trump Coalition.”
“The individual you wrote about here is not affiliated with the Trump Campaign, our Latinos for Trump Coalition, or the Trump Family,’ the spokesman said. ‘He is also not the state director of our coalition and is not on our advisory board.”
Tarrio has also been pictured with Trump’s ally Roger Stone, a member of the Proud Boys, as well as Republican senator Ted Cruz, who co-sponsored a Senate resolution based on a petition authored by Tarrio to designate the anarchist left-wing group Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization.”
After the proposal—which failed, Trump tweeted his support, ‘Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an ‘ORGANIZATION OF TERROR’.’
In 2017, Tarrio was seen on camera at the infamous white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Tarrio was donned in body armor and a badge, which displayed “Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights,” a paramilitary branch of the Proud Boys. However, Tarrio says he left before violence erupted.
Tarrio is a business owner that runs a security equipment firm and a son of Cuban immigrants but was born in Miami. In November 2018, he was promoted from president of Miami’s Proud Boys chapter to its national chairman.
He told Miami New Times that his parents became conservatives once they left Castro’s Cuba.
‘My house, at like 7 o’clock in the morning, there’s like 20 people in my house, talking about politics, roasting each other, just making fun of each other. I was brought up in that environment, so that kind of brings me into the f***ery that comes along with being a Proud Boy,’ he said.
But Tarrio himself does not have a clean slate; when he was 20 years old, he was sentenced to three years of probation for stealing a motorcycle that was worth $55,000. In 2013, he was given 16 months in federal prison for his role in selling stolen diabetic test strip kits.
And he was also banned from Twitter due to his violation of its rules on violent extremist groups. He criticized their move and said he was not a racist.
Tarrio has posted messages on Proud Boys online groups, including: ‘This [website] to get filled up with Proud Boys, not no f**got a** photogs!’ and ‘B**ch n****r f**got tra**y. Stress test 3,’ according to screenshots obtained by the Miami New Times. A message he later said was a joke and a way of promoting freedom of speech.
‘We are not a white-power group, and I am not a victim,’ he told the New Times. ‘I just think I should be able to say what I want and to express my support of Trump without being called a Nazi.’
A spokesman for Tarrio released a statement Wednesday saying the Proud Boys has ‘longstanding regulations prohibiting racist, white supremacist or violent activity’ adding that ‘we do not care what color you are or what your background is … if you love America … we consider you a brother.’
Tarrio himself later said Trump wasn’t endorsing Proud Boys with what he said.
He told NBC Miami, ‘He didn’t condemn us. He didn’t promote us either. What’ stand by’ means is stand by me. The president was asked a very poignant question. He was asked about white supremacy, and he was asked to disavow white supremacy. Biden cut him off and said our name.’
