The leader of the Proud Boys far-right group has been denied early release from jail in Washington DC.
In a ruling released on Friday, superior court judge Jonathan H Pittman said poor living conditions were not sufficient reason for Henry “Enrique” Tarrio to be transferred to house arrest or to have his sentence reduced.
The “appropriate remedy for unconstitutional conditions of confinement is correction of the unconstitutional conditions of confinement, which are experienced by all inmates, not just the defendant”, Pittman wrote.
Tarrio is serving a five-month sentence for stealing and burning a Black Lives Matter banner from a historic Black church in the capital, after Donald Trump’s election defeat.
Tarrio also requested to be freed under DC’s “compassionate release” statute, which Pittman also denied.
Tarrio, he said, “fails to establish that his case presents ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons’ warranting a modification”.
Tarrio claimed to have been harassed by correctional officers and said his cell regularly floods with water from a toilet in a neighboring cell.
“I’ve been to jail before and what I’ve seen here, I’ve never seen anywhere else,” Tarrio said in a video testimony.
Tarrio also described abusive guards, smoke-filled hallways and medical neglect, saying he witnessed a prisoner have a seizure and wait for half an hour before help arrived.
Approximately three dozen Proud Boys members and associates have been charged in connection with the 6 January Capitol riot, in which Trump supporters sought to overturn his election defeat.
Some have been charged with conspiring to carry out a coordinated attack to stop Congress certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
Tarrio was not at the Capitol on 6 January and has not been charged in connection to the riot. He was arrested on 4 January, on his way to DC. Police pulled him over on a warrant for vandalizing the Black Lives Matter sign, which was stolen from the Asbury United Methodist church the previous month.
Officers also found Tarrio to be carrying two unloaded ammunition magazines emblazoned with the Proud Boys logo, which he said he sells.
Tarrio pleaded guilty in August to destruction of property and attempted possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device.
