WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio said he intends to apply for compensation from a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund announced by the Department of Justice on Monday, and believes he is owed "somewhere in the mid-tens of millions" of dollars. Tarrio, who was convicted in 2023 of seditious conspiracy and other charges connected to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, told PBS News that he is "excited" about the announcement.

The Department of Justice sent a memo to Republican senators on Thursday stating that anyone who was a victim of "lawfare and weaponization" can apply to the fund. The memo states that claims will be awarded on a case-by-case basis and that an applicant's "personal conduct and character" will be considered. The fund does not address whether January 6 defendants are eligible.

Tarrio said he does not have official information from the Department of Justice on how to apply and is speculating based on what he sees on Twitter. He said he hopes the application process will be a simple online form, and that applying for the fund will be an easier process than pursuing tort claims that require tax returns and other forms. In 2025, he filed a lawsuit against the department claiming the government arrested him and others without sufficient probable cause, seeking millions of dollars in punitive damages.

He said he spent time in solitary confinement and alleged that FBI actions interfered with his defense preparation during his trial. Prosecutors had argued that he orchestrated the Proud Boys-led plot by hand-selecting "rally boys" prepared to get violent to breach the building and stop certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 election win. Tarrio received a 22-year prison sentence and was among about 1,500 January 6 defendants pardoned by President Donald Trump.

He said other January 6 defendants were treated unfairly during the judicial process and deserve compensation, and that groups including Hunter Biden, anti-abortion activists, and Catholics who were surveilled should also be eligible. He said providing money and pardons to January 6 defendants would not encourage future attacks on the presidential transition process. "J6ers are very dedicated, and in some cases, I've heard like two or three times that they're going to use it to run for local office for their city council," he said.

Two police officers who defended the Capitol filed a lawsuit on Wednesday over the possibility that rioters could benefit from the fund. That possibility led Senate Republicans to stall unrelated legislation. "The fund is intended to help those 'badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday.