By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Federal prosecutors will request that Enrique Tarrio, former chairman of Proud Boys be detained pending his trial for conspiracy charges. They claim they have “compelling evidence” to prove his guilt.

On Monday, the Justice Department submitted 21 pages of court documents. They claimed that damning encrypted messages were exchanged between Tarrio’s and Proud Boys. These Proud Boys had been invited to join a chapter Tarrio started in December 2020. This was called the “Ministry of Self Defense” (MOSD).

According to them, MOSD was described as “national rally-planning” by Tarrio. After they tussled and breached Capitol grounds, several of the “hand-selected members” are now facing co-defendant charges.

An encrypted chat group was created for MOSD. One participant told others that it was now time to “stack those bodies in front Capitol Hill,” according to prosecutors.

Tarrio (38) is among the 775 criminally charged in connection to the attack on Capitol Hill by Trump supporters in an attempt to stop Congress from recertifying Joe Biden’s victory.

His detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Miami. He will face a U.S. magistrate in Miami, but his trial will be held in Washington.

Tarrio was not present on Capitol grounds during the riot. On Jan. 4, 2021, police arrested Tarrio for burning the Black Lives Matter banner at an historic African-American Church in December 2020. This charge led to him spending four months in prison.

Prosecutors said that Tarrio was still active behind the scenes, with his followers telling him to stay at the Capitol. Later, Tarrio told them in an encrypted chat: “We did that.”

They claimed that Tarrio had taken steps to block law enforcement access to encrypted messages stored on his mobile phone, and they encouraged the other Proud Boy not to cooperate.