By Aram Roston

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Two witnesses who were interviewed by FBI agents said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was probing a meeting held in a DC garage on January 6, the day prior to the Capitol Hill riot. The participants included the leader of Proud Boys, now the Oath Keepers militia’s commander, and other far-right leaders.

Among the half dozen people gathered at a garage near the Phoenix Park Hotel was Oath Keepers head Stewart Rhodes, who was indicted this year on charges of “seditious conspiracy” in the insurrection. The Chairman of Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio was absent from the riot but was present at the garage meeting. He left Washington afterwards.

The meeting put the heads of the nation’s two best-known violent far-right pro-Trump groups in immediate proximity to each other 24 hours before the breach of the Capitol. Three people or their representatives contacted Reuters said they had not discussed matters related to January 6.

Bianca Gracia is the head of a pro-Trump coalition named Latinos for Trump. A related Political Action Committee called Latinos For America First was also present, according witnesses and footage taken by a documentary crew. Kellye SoRelle was also present, who is a lawyer representing Latinos For Trump and the Oath Keepers. SoRelle said to Reuters that she was invited by Gracia in order to meet Tarrio, and get information on criminal defense lawyers. Her role was limited and didn’t concern her plans for the day.

A U.S. House of Representatives committee is investigating the January 6 riot, in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump sought to block Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s election as president. Tarrio was accompanied by a photographer to certain parts of the garage meeting. The committee subpoenaed his phone records.

Tarrio said that his June meeting with Rhodes at the garage was not planned and wasn’t significant. “By coincidence,” Tarrio said, “he was inside … that parking garage.” He said he shook hands with Rhodes solely to be polite. “He’s here, I’m not going to not shake somebody’s hand.” He has denied any Proud Boys planning ahead of January 6.

Tarrio was reached again in January and said that he wouldn’t answer any further questions. “I usually speak to all reporters,” he texted back after one question, “but when they become conspiracy theorists … that’s usually when I sever ties.” Tarrio has said he stepped down as Proud Boys chairman earlier this year.

An attorney for Rhodes, who is being held pending trial, emailed Reuters that “there was no coordination” between Rhodes and Tarrio.

The FBI’s investigation of the meeting has not previously been reported, nor have the circumstances of the gathering. One clip from the meeting was featured on a British Channel 4 documentary about the Proud Boys. It sparked some conversation on Twitter (NYSE :).

Rhodes was not mentioned by Rhodes to Michael Simmons who was there for a portion of January 6. Simmons was stunned when Reuters reported on the meeting. He said that Rhodes had previously been harsh about Tarrio as well as the Proud Boys. “Why would you meet Enrique in a fucking parking garage?” said Simmons, who has not been charged. “It just blows my mind. That’s crazy!”

Federal prosecutors charged several Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders with leading the January 6 chaos. Tarrio was not indicted.

The Proud Boys is an all-male group that encourages street brawling against leftist protestors and calls itself “Western chauvinist.” Oath Keepers wear military-style uniforms, train in military tactics and often carry firearms in operations.

Prosecutors cited last March’s social media posts of an Oath Keeper leader, who was indicted in the case on January 6. “This week I organized an alliance between Oath Keepers, Florida 3%ers, and Proud Boys,” he allegedly wrote in a Facebook (NASDAQ:) message before the riot, citing a different gathering, prosecutors said in a court filing. Three Percenters, a far-right militia that is loosely organized and some of which were charged in the Capitol attack.

The Justice Department, however, has so far not provided clear evidence of far-right organizations plotting to join hands on January 6.

The spokesperson from the FBI refused to comment.

“OUT OF SIGHT”

On the afternoon of January 5, 2021, Washington teemed with Trump supporters preparing for January 6, when Congress was scheduled to ratify Biden’s presidential victory at the Capitol. Tarrio was just released from Washington after spending the night there. He had been charged with burning a Black Lives Matter Flag in December 2020. Tarrio was ordered to vacate the city until his court appearances. Tarrio served almost six months imprisonment for carrying illegal rifle magazines and lighting the banner.

According to a source, Tarrio was driven by the Proud Boys documentary crew to Phoenix Park Hotel near the Capitol after he was freed on January 5.

According to prosecutors, Rhodes was an Oath Keepers leader who had fled Texas on January 3. He spent over $10,000 buying firearms equipment during his trip to DC. The indictment said he conspired “to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power.” He stayed at a hotel in Vienna, Virginia.

According to a source, Rhodes appeared outside Phoenix Park Hotel DC just as Tarrio was released from prison on January 5.

Gracia, president of LatinosforTrump, was seen inside the hotel. SoRelle is the Latinos for Trump lawyer. She says that Gracia invited them to meet Tarrio. Tarrio, who is most well-known as the chairman of Proud Boys, was previously involved with Latinos For Trump and served as its Florida director.

Sorelle claimed that Tarrio was with a couple others in her garage as she came in to the house with Rhodes, Gracia and other friends. She said Rhodes shook Tarrio’s hand and the two exchanged pleasantries. Then she briefly discussed Tarrio’s need for a lawyer in the DC criminal case, for which he’d been arrested the previous day. Six people were present, she said. In the violence of January 6, Latinos for Trump have not been charged.

When Gracia was contacted this January she declined to talk about the garage meeting. Previously, she said that the group she attended had a morning meeting near the U.S. Senate. After leaving the rally at 12:15, she returned to her hotel where she slept throughout the uprising. “We’re a very spiritual group and we’re grounded in God and we stayed where we were supposed to stay and we prayed,” she said. SoRelle also said she attended the Latinos for Trump rally on January 6, where she spoke as well as Rhodes. Simmons and SoRelle concurred.

Amy Harris (photographer) was with Tarrio on January 5, according to two sources. Harris was originally an expert in photographing music festivals and concerts but had now switched to photography protests and began to focus on Tarrio as well as the Proud Boys. The House committee has subpoenaed Harris’s phone records; she is suing the January 6 committee to block the subpoena. “Harris’s work documenting Tarrio throughout the remainder of 2020 earned her Tarrio’s trust as a journalist and, accordingly, the trust of the members of his group,” her suit said.

Harris’ lawyers and Harris declined to comment.

SoRelle claimed that the garage meeting made her confused and she still doesn’t understand why. The meeting wasn’t necessary as Tarrio had shared with her information regarding possible attorneys. “There was no reason for him to show up and there was no reason for me to be there,” she said.

The documentary film crew was from a company called “Saboteur Media.” It gathered a snippet showing Tarrio, Rhodes and Gracia standing in the garage but does not have audio, according to a source familiar with it. Reuters obtained a photo showing the group standing in the garage.

According to Reuters, a source said that the FBI had obtained a copy.