- Enrique Tarrio, charged with leading the Proud Boys' attack on the Capitol, is asking for a venue change.
- Tarrio is citing an Oath Keepers-backed poll showing 70% of District residents already think Jan. 6-ers are guilty.
- The poll has already been rejected in prior venue change requests.
Former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio is asking for a venue change, arguing in a new court filing that Washington, DC residents are prejudiced against Capitol attack defendants.
In arguing that he couldn't get a fair jury in DC, Tarrio's filing cites a poll conducted on behalf of two Oath Keepers also charged in the attack on the Capitol, Thomas Caldwell and Connie Meggs.
That poll, conducted by Lux Research, shows that 72% of District of Columbia residents say they would be likely to find those accused of storming the Capitol guilty.
The Lux poll was taken on behalf of accused Oath Keepers Thomas Caldwell and Connie Meggs, and has already been rejected as a basis for venue changes by judges in other Jan. 6-related cases.
Tarrio's venue-change request also cites a separate survey by John Zogby Strategies showing that 68 percent of DC registered voters who have heard of the Proud Boys hold an unfavorable opinion of the group.
A lawyer for Tarrio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tarrio, charged with conspiracy for allegedly orchestrating the extremist group's attack on the Capitol, has also asked to be freed on a $1 million bond; that request is also pending.
Federal prosecutors say that although Tarrio was not at the Capitol on the day of the attack, he spent months planning and encouraging the Proud Boys' violent disruption of Congress's confirmation of Joe Biden's presidential win.