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.

Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio was arrested Monday afternoon in Washington, D.C., shortly after landing in the nation's capital to attend rallies protesting President Donald Trump's loss in November's election.

Tarrio, 36, was on a phone call with a USA Today reporter when the call was interrupted by loud sirens. He joked that "They're for me," and then, sounding confused, asked the driver of the car he was riding in to pull over. Tarrio told the reporter, "Here's something to write about," before hanging up the call.

Members of the far-right group the Proud Boys will attend Washington, D.C., rallies for President Trump on Jan. 6 "incognito," with leaders of the group saying they will dress in "all BLACK" to mimic the attire of anti-fascist groups and counterprotesters.

The group is known for its signature black and yellow clothing during rallies and protests, where they typically appear in large groups. The group's chairman, Enrique Tarrio, announced on social media that group members "might dress in all BLACK for the occasion."

Encouraged by President Donald Trump's dangerous rhetoric of refusing to accept the results of the election, his supporters — including far-right groups — rioted on the streets of Washington, DC, and Olympia, Washington, on Saturday night, resulting in violence, injuries, and multiple arrests.

Two months after Trump told the Proud Boys, a far-right men’s organization with a history of instigating violence, to “stand back and stand by,” the group was involved in violent clashes with counterprotesters at the so-called Stop the Steal rally in DC.

The one-time leader of the Proud Boys’ most paramilitary arm is now trying to rebrand the far-right streetfighting group as a more explicitly racist entity. It’s the latest headache for an organization currently in denial about President Donald Trump’s re-election loss.

Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman was once the leader of the Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights, essentially the frontline shock troops of the group known for taking part in brawls across the country. The Proud Boys’ founder even said in 2017 that he considered naming Chapman president of the entire organization.

Protests have continued as threats of violence have been made by some of President Donald Trump’s far-right, militant supporters after Joe Biden’s victory, including the claimed head of the Proud Boys, as many Trump supporters and seemingly the campaign itself remain in denial about the president’s loss.

Government analysts and private sector investigators were able to rapidly attribute to Iranian hackers a wave of thousands of threatening emails aimed at U.S. voters because of mistakes made in a video attached to some of the messages, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Within minutes after U.S. President Donald Trump told the Proud Boys, a far-right group with members who espouse white supremacism, to “stand back and stand by,” on national television on Sept. 29, 2020, members of the men-only group took to fringe social media sites to celebrate what they considered a “historic” moment for their ideological push against leftists.

One hallmark of the Trump era is that incidents of terrorism are not followed by the traditional calls for national unity but often deepen the partisan divide. On Thursday, federal and state officials announced the arrest of 13 men in Michigan associated with a group called the Wolverine Watchmen on assorted charges of terrorism, conspiracy, and unlawful weapons possession. The most lurid of the accusations was that at least six of the men were involved in a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.