Top Proud Boys have been sent to prison for years. Here's why that might not change things

A top leader of the extremist group the Proud Boys received the longest prison sentence yet handed out for the Jan. 6 insurrection, and five other Proud Boys were also given long sentences. Meanwhile, a small group of neo-Nazis gathered in Orlando over Labor Day weekend to shout and wave swastika flags. And a spat between the Anti-Defamation League and Twitter/X owner Elon Musk blows up on Twitter/X.

It’s the week in extremism.

More: Two years since the Jan. 6 insurrection, extremist groups are fragmented, but live on

Former Proud Boys ‘chairman’ Enrique Tarrio sentenced to 22 years

The big news in extremism this week was the sentencing of Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and his fellow Proud Boys Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola to lengthy prison terms for their roles in the Jan. 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

• Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison — the longest prison term handed out to any of the more than 1,100 people so far prosecuted for the insurrection.

• Nordean was sentenced to 18 years, equaling the sentence given to Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers. Biggs received a 17-year sentence and Rehl a 15-year sentence. Pezzola, who was the first person to break into the Capitol, received a 10-year sentence.

• Tarrio, Nordean, Biggs and Rehl were all found guilty of seditious conspiracy in May. While Tarrio wasn’t in Washington that day, the judge in his case concluded the Miami Proud Boy, who called himself the “chairman” of the group, was a crucial organizer of the attack.

Here at USA TODAY in January, we analyzed the status of various extremist groups two years after the insurrection. Experts this week agreed the Proud Boys remain in a similar position now: The group has moved away from national organizing but individual chapters around the country continue to meet and protest. Particularly, they rally around anti-LGBTQ causes.

Reached by email, a member of the North Carolina chapter of the group wrote to USA TODAY: “We are not surviving – we are thriving, and we will continue to do so. This fraternity is bigger than Joe and Enrique and Zach and Dominic and Gavin.” (Gavin McInnes founded the Proud Boys).

Last week in extremism: Local prosecutor promised to bring charges against drag performers

Neo Nazis march outside Disney World in Orlando

On Saturday, a group of roughly three dozen neo-Nazis — members of groups called the Goyim Defense League and Blood Tribe — gathered in Orlando where they marched, shouted racial epithets at passers-by, and waved swastika flags.

• The gathering, captured in videos by independent video journalist Ford Fischer and others, appeared to be led by a neo-Nazi who is reportedly seeking to build a “training camp” in rural Maine.

• In March, the man’s group protested at a drag queen story hour in Ohio that resulted in arrests and scraps with counter-protesters.

The ADL and Elon Musk’s war (of words)

The last couple of weeks have seen an expanding spat between the civil rights and research organization the Anti-Defamation League and Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last year. The ADL has criticized Musk’s management of Twitter and called on companies to pause advertising on the platform. Musk has responded by threatening to sue the organization.

• Claiming that antisemitism has spiked on Twitter, the ADL launched a campaign in  November asking companies to cease advertising on Twitter “until it becomes clear whether Twitter remains committed to being a safe place for advertisers as well as society overall.”

• The ADL also released a report in May claiming that dozens of accounts reinstated after Musk’s takeover of Twitter were spreading antisemitic tropes and veiled attacks.

• A hashtag taking aim at the ADL trended on Twitter over the weekend, attracting tweets sharing antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories.

On Monday, Musk threatened to sue the ADL in a post on X. In another post, he wrote that he is “pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind.” Musk has since tweeted dozens of times about the ADL. Forward, a Jewish publication, is maintaining a running list of Musk’s “disturbing comments about Jews.”

Statistic of the week: 11

That’s the length of the prison sentence – in years – that prosecutors offered Tarrio, the Proud Boys leader,  in a plea deal. He rejected the offer and found the judge believed he deserved twice that long in prison – 22 years.

Other Jan. 6 Proud Boy defendants tried alongside Tarrio were offered similar deals that would have halved their sentences. None took them.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Enrique Tarrio, Proud Boys sentenced: Here's what won't change