‘White dudes’: Proud Boys leader rips Oath Keepers despite reports of coordination
Ryan King
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Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio repudiated the Oath Keepers during his private testimony to the Jan. 6 committee last February, contradicting lawmakers’ suggestion of ties between the two right-wing groups.
Tarrio, who is facing trial for his role in the pro-Trump riot, claimed there was animosity between the two groups and that his infamous Jan. 5, 2021, meeting with Oath Keepers head Stewart Rhodes highlighted by the panel was happenstance.
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“I get people that name-drop me all the time,” Tarrio told the committee, according to a transcript. “But I can guarantee you that there was never any coordination between me or any Oath Keepers or Three Percenters.”
During its public hearings over the summer, the Jan. 6 committee highlighted a clip from a documentary crew of Oath Keepers meeting Proud Boys in a parking garage of the Phoenix Park Hotel. Relations between the groups had deteriorated by then after a logistical hiccup during a protest in Portland, Oregon, years before left Proud Boys members stranded, according to Tarrio.
“Ever since then, I did not talk to Stewart Rhodes — I didn’t like Stewart Rhodes. I still don’t like Stewart Rhodes,” Tarrio explained. Referring to the Jan. 5, 2021, meeting, he added, “I didn’t want to be rude. I shook his hand.”
“I still was on the f*** Oath Keepers train,” Tarrio added.
The Oath Keepers is a loosely organized group largely composed of former law enforcement and military personnel, according to the Justice Department. The Proud Boys describe themselves as a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.”
Both groups are being investigated by the Justice Department. Rhodes has been convicted of seditious conspiracy, and Tarrio faces similar charges.
Jan. 6 investigators pressed Tarrio about the close proximity between the members of the two groups breaching the Capitol during the riot.
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“Anybody that went into the Capitol within that time frame can be accused of working with the Oath Keepers. We don’t have a history of working with the Oath Keepers,” he replied.
The details are in a transcript, one of 34 released by the panel late Wednesday. The interview was one of roughly 1,200 the committee conducted during its sprawling 18-month investigation. The committee is expected to release its final report by the end of the week.