filmed themselves burning it.[120] Tarrio was eventually charged with destruction of property.[121] He was arrested on January 4, 2021, and banned from Washington, DC, barring him from joining the group at the Capitol.[122] As explained in Chapter 8, however, Tarrio's arrest did not stop him from conspiring with his men on January 6th.
Minutes after the flag burning, a man wearing black clothes walked into a crowd of Proud Boys.[123] Assuming he was associated with Antifa, they began pushing and harassing him, and he drew a knife in response.[124] In the ensuing melee, four Proud Boys suffered stab wounds, including Bertino, a confidant to Tarrio.[125] Bertino's wounds were severe and life-threatening, preventing him from joining the group on January 6th.[126]
STORMING THE WINTER PALACE
The Proud Boys began to reorient and formalize their operations to focus on January 6th after President Trump's December 19th tweet. Inspired, in part, by Bertino's stabbing, the Proud Boys centered their new hierarchy in group chats that used terms such as "Ministry of Self Defense" (MOSD).[127] However, the words "Self Defense" were misleading: Enrique Tarrio and others would soon go on the offense. And the MOSD served as their organizational scaffolding for the January 6, 2021, attack.
On December 20, 2020, Tarrio established a "national rally planning committee" and created an encrypted MOSD chat to organize their activities.[128] Tarrio added Proud Boys leaders from across the country, including several who played lead roles in the violence on January 6th.[129] In the ensuing weeks, the Proud Boys traded equipment recommendations, shared maps marked with law enforcement positions, and established command and control structures.[130] A separate encrypted chat, named "Boots on the Ground," was established for foot soldiers who would be in Washington, DC on January 6th.[131]
The Proud Boys' planning for January 6th was a significant step in the group's evolution. Previously, they were loosely organized. The MOSD was created to enforce a "top down structure" with a defined leadership.[132] Tarrio stressed the command structure by telling members that they needed to "[f]it in [] or fuck off."[133]
From the start, it was clear that MOSD chat members were intensely interested in disrupting the electoral count on January 6th. On December 20, 2020, one MOSD leader stated, "I assume most of the protest will be at the capital [sic] building given what's going on inside."[134] On December 29, 2020, in a group message to the MOSD, a member wrote, "I know most of the events will be centered around freedom plaza. . . ." Tarrio responded, "Negative. They're centered around the Capitol."[135]
