Proud Boys Leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio told the House Jan. 6 committee that he wished he would have cashed in on President Trump’s “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by” quip.
“I wish I would have made a ’stand back and stand by’ shirt,” Mr. Tarrio told the panel in a videotaped deposition revealed during the committee’s prime-time hearing Thursday.
Mr. Trump made the remark in a September 2020 presidential debate against then-candidate Joseph R. Biden when asked by moderator Chris Wallace to condemn the group.
The remarks consumed headlines in the days following the debate.
A staff member on the committee asked Mr. Tarrio during his deposition whether he had sold any merchandise with the slogan.
Mr. Tarrio said another vendor beat him to it.
He and four other top leaders of the Proud Boys were indicted Monday on federal charges for seditious conspiracy.
The video is part of the evidence the committee is using to showcase what it calls a “coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power.”
Thursday’s hearing marks the start of a month of public hearings by the committee that are expected to reveal new information and testimony from Trump administration officials and other witnesses.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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