Tarrio is a snitch https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-proud-boys-leader-prolific-140823474.html WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding obtained by Reuters. In the Miami hearing, a federal prosecutor, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and Tarrio’s own lawyer described his undercover work and said he had helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling. Tarrio, in an interview with Reuters Tuesday, denied working undercover or cooperating in cases against others. “I don’t know any of this,” he said, when asked about the transcript. “I don’t recall any of this.” Law-enforcement officials and the court transcript contradict Tarrio’s denial. In a statement to Reuters, the former federal prosecutor in Tarrio’s case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, confirmed that “he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes.” Tarrio, 36, is a high-profile figure who organizes and leads the right-wing Proud Boys in their confrontations with those they believe to be Antifa, short for “anti-fascism,” an amorphous and often violent leftist movement. The Proud Boys were involved in the deadly insurrection at the Capitol January 6. The records uncovered by Reuters are startling because they show that a leader of a far-right group now under intense scrutiny by law enforcement was previously an active collaborator with criminal investigators. Washington police arrested Tarrio in early January when he arrived in the city two days before the Capitol Hill riot. He was charged with possessing two high-capacity rifle magazines, and burning a Black Lives Matter banner during a December demonstration by supporters of former President Donald Trump. The D.C. Superior Court ordered him to leave the city pending a court date in June. Though Tarrio did not take part in the Capitol insurrection, at least five Proud Boys members have been charged in the riot. The FBI previously said Tarrio’s earlier arrest was an effort to preempt the events of January 6. The transcript from 2014 shines a new light on Tarrio’s past connections to law enforcement. During the hearing, the prosecutor and Tarrio’s defense attorney asked a judge to reduce the prison sentence of Tarrio and two co-defendants. They had pleaded guilty in a fraud case related to the relabeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits. The prosecutor said Tarrio’s information had led to the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges in two separate cases, and had helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring. Tarrio’s then-lawyer Jeffrey Feiler said in court that his client had worked undercover in numerous investigations, one involving the sale of anabolic steroids, another regarding “wholesale prescription narcotics” and a third targeting human smuggling. He said Tarrio helped police uncover three marijuana grow houses, and was a “prolific” cooperator. In the smuggling case, Tarrio, “at his own risk, in an undercover role met and negotiated to pay $11,000 to members of that ring to bring in fictitious family members of his from another country,” the lawyer said in court.
https://news.yahoo.com/us-issues-terror-alert-over-194956319.html The US Department of Homeland Security declared a nationwide terrorism alert Wednesday, citing the potential threat from domestic anti-government extremists opposed to Democrat Joe Biden as president. Extremists "emboldened" by the deadly January 6 assault on Congress by angry supporters of former president Donald Trump could undertake attacks against elected officials and government facilities, the alert said. The warning came as authorities in California charged a Trump supporter and follower of a far-right militia group with possession of five home-made pipe bombs, alleging he intended to attack Democrats. The National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin said the threat of attacks could persist for weeks, in the wake of Biden's January 20 inauguration and the storming of the US Capitol. "Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence," the Department of Homeland Security said. Some security worries surround the impeachment trial of Trump beginning in the second week of February. Trump has been charged by the House of Representatives with "incitement of insurrection" for allegedly encouraging the assault on the Capitol. "Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence," the Department of Homeland Security said. Some security worries surround the impeachment trial of Trump beginning in the second week of February. Trump has been charged by the House of Representatives with "incitement of insurrection" for allegedly encouraging the assault on the Capitol. DHS said it had no information indicating any specific, credible threat. "However, violent riots have continued in recent days and we remain concerned that individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition... could continue to mobilize a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors to incite or commit violence," it said. - Over 150 arrested - The alert came two days after the Pentagon said thousands of National Guard troops deployed in Washington for Biden's inauguration would remain in the capital through March due to FBI intelligence on potential threats. It was the first alert ever issued for domestic violent extremists. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the alert marked a turn from the previous four years of the Trump administration when the threat from the extreme right was downplayed, despite a growing number of deadly attacks. "I am glad to see that DHS fully recognizes the threat posed by violent, right-wing extremists, and is taking efforts to communicate that threat to the American people," Thompson said. The DHS alert said threats had grown since last year from domestic violent extremists motivated by Covid-19 restrictions, Biden's defeat of Trump in the November election, police brutality and illegal immigration. On Tuesday, the Justice Department said it had arrested more than 150 people over the attack on the Capitol and was investigating hundreds more. Increasingly the investigations are focused on conspiracy and sedition charges, which can bring up to 20 years in prison, said Michael Sherwin, the acting federal prosecutor for Washington. Three people linked to the extremist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups have been charged on those grounds. Their case is significant, Sherwin said, because "it shows militia groups actively involved in planning and breaching the Capitol."
...he "was" in his checkered pre proud boy days allegedly no longer informant. So probably a tactic to help further divide the group
Maybe his usefulness as an informant ran its course. Maybe he wouldn't inform on fellow right wingers. It looks like the court documents got leaked first. Maybe The FBI and such confirmed his role as an informer as a way to take down what they perceive as a dangerous domestic terrorist group in the proud boys. To kill the snake you cut off the head.
Then documents will leak showing the people he ratted out were right wingers. It doesn't matter though. A snitch is a snitch.