In a bombshell moment in federal court on Tuesday, the former leader of right-wing hate group Proud Boys finally admitted for the first time that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. Enrique Tarrio, 39, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for orchestrating a failed plot to keep the former president in power – marking the longest sentence ever doled out in connection to the January 6 Capitol riot. Before his sentence was handed down, the man who once led the neo-fascist gang gave a statement to the court where he begged for leniency from the judge. Tarrio apologised for his actions, branded the Capitol riot a “national embarrassment” and vowed that his days of meddling in politics are over. Then, in a shock move, he publicly denounced his false claims that the election was “stolen” from Mr Trump for the very first time. “My candidate lost,” he admitted. “What happened on January 6 was a national embarrassment... I do not think what happened that day was acceptable.” Choking up with emotion, Tarrio said that he had let his family down with his actions as he begged the judge not to rob him of his 40s behind bars. “I am not a political zealot. Inflicting harm or changing the results of the election was not my goal,” Tarrio said. “Please show me mercy. I ask you that you not take my 40s from me.” He added: “When I get back home I want nothing to do with politics, groups, activism or rallies... and when you walk out that door your honour, I won’t be saying anything other than that.” But the admission came too late to save him from being hit with the longest prison sentence to date over the Capitol riot that resulted in five deaths and hundreds of law enforcement officers injured. US District Judge Timothy Kelly said that Tarrio was the “ultimate leader” of the Proud Boys’ conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in Mr Trump’s favour. “I do think the evidence of Mr Tarrio’s leadership was, quite frankly, evident during trial,” the judge said. “I do find the evidence shows that Mr Tarrio was on the top of the command structure with regard to the planning of the offence.” “That day broke our previously unbroken tradition of peacefully transferring power,” he added. Tarrio was among four members of the group convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes earlier this year following a four-month trial. Tarrio, as the group’s leader, organised and directed a mob towards the US Capitol, where Proud Boys dismantled barricades and broke windows to breach the halls of Congress, then bragged about their actions on social media and in group chat messages that were later shared with jurors. He served as a “naturally charismatic leader, a savvy propagandist, and the celebrity Chairman” of the group, wielding his influence over his subordinates and allies to “organize and execute the conspiracy to forcibly stop the peaceful democratic transfer of power” as lawmakers convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. Tarrio instead used his talents “to inflame and radicalise untold numbers of followers, promoting political violence in general and orchestrating the charged conspiracies in particular,” they argued. Federal sentencing guidelines indicated Tarrio could have faced 27 to 33 years in prison. Prosecutors sought a sentence of 33 years. As he did with other Proud Boys cases, Judge Kelly applied what is called a terrorism “enhancement” to the sentencing guidelines but refrained from imposing larger prison sentences for crimes he has contrasted to mass casualty events. Four other members of the group were sentenced last week for their roles in the attack. Ethan Nordean received a sentence of 18 years in prison, tying Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes for what is now the second-longest sentence to date among the hundreds of people convicted in connection with January 6. Joe Biggs was sentenced to 17 years, Zachary Rehl was sentenced to 15 years, and Dominic Pezzola – the sole co-defendant among them who was not convicted of seditious conspiracy – was sentenced to 10 years. Tarrio’s verdict marked the first successful seditious conspiracy conviction against a January 6 defendant who was not physically at the Capitol that day – he was barred from entering Washington DC after he was arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter banner outside a church during a riot weeks earlier. He watched the insurrection from a hotel room in Baltimore. During the Proud Boys trial, prosecutors presented hundreds of internal messages revealing the group’s culture of violence and preparations for an attack in the weeks leading up to January 6. Prosecutors argued that Proud Boys were not merely obedient followers of Donald Trump’s commands, amplifying his bogus narrative of election fraud, but were preparing for “all-out war” to undermine millions of Americans’ votes and upend a democratic election to preserve his presidency. In the insurrection’s aftermath, Tarrio wrote on the social media platform Parler that “when the government fears the people, there is liberty,” a post he accompanied with a photo of House members ducking for cover. “When he wrote those words, Tarrio was not referring to politicians’ fear of being voted out of office,” prosecutors wrote. “He was speaking concretely and approvingly about what the members of Congress and their staffs were experiencing that very afternoon: fear of injury and death at the hands of a vicious mob that included Tarrio’s own hand-picked soldiers.” Defence attorney Sabino Jauregui claimed that his client was simply a “misguided patriot” who never intended to “bring down” the government. Tarrio’s attorneys sought unsuccessfully to separate Tarrio from the destructive actions of other Proud Boys on the ground. Tarrio’s influence among the Proud Boys and far-right extremism more broadly extends far beyond the scope of January 6. Following the federal case against him in the aftermath of the January 6 attack, as the US Department of Justice scrutinized far-right groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, Tarrio announced he was stepping down from his leadership role. He urged other members to “start getting more involved in local politics” and said the group would be “running our guys for office from local seats, whether it’s a simple GOP seat or a city council seat.” Members of the group would go on to do just that. Members have also harassed drag queen story-telling events at libraries and amplified “groomer” smears aimed at LGBT+ people. Proud Boys have been central to a wave of attacks and threats against drag performers and the people and venues that host them, targeting at least 60 such events within the last year, with more than half resulting in physical and verbal clashes. Read More Proud Boys ringleader Enrique Tarrio sentenced to 22 years in prison for Jan 6 attack Who is Enrique Tarrio? Ex-Proud Boys leader faces longest prison sentence yet for January 6 ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition

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One of Fox News’s star journalists found himself battling his own viewers after an appearance by former President Donald Trump on his show that many independent observers said was damaging for the ex-president’s credibility. Bret Baier won compliments from his colleagues in the media this week for the no-ground-given interview with the ex-president, which aired in two parts over Tuesday and Wednesday. But the reaction from the twice-indicted ex-president’s fanbase was less enthusiastic. One commenter, a blue-check Trump supporter, wrote a tweet attacking both the interview and Baier’s upcoming gig moderating the first Republican primary debate, set to be held on 23 August. They attacked Baier as a “Murdoch mouthpiece” and suggested that Mr Trump should skip the Fox debate. A second commenter then seemingly admitted that Mr Trump had said something incriminating during their discussion, while questioning whether the journalist had coordinated with the Department of Justice. “Bret and Martha [MacCallum], two anti-Trumpers, will be moderating the first GOP debate. Why the hell would Trump show up to that? Especially after this interview that was actually a debate between Trump & Murdoch mouthpiece. Remember Murdoch’s are all in for DeSanctimonious!” wrote the first critic, Alex Bruesewitz. The second tweeter added: “The big question is did @BretBaier have any contact with the DOJ to try and entrap @realDonaldTrump into incriminating himself. Who wrote his questions. The DOJ will be using his interview against him.” Baier flatly rejected that conspiracy in a short statement: “I’ll answer that. No. I wrote my own questions. And frankly I didn’t know that I would get much on the indictment questions assuming he might say he couldn’t talk about it. Thanks for watching.” He would later go on to approvingly retweet another viewer who took a mocking shot at a third critic of the Trump interivew. The comments are a sign of the increasingly tight spot that Baier and others on Fox’s news side find themselves in. Their network faces a ratings slide following the ouster of star opinion host Tucker Carlson, and increasing disfavour from the channel’s largely pro-Trump audience over any journalism that conflicts with the former president’s conspiracy theories. Baier struck a nerve with the former president in the segment of the interview which aired on Tuesday, as he rejected Mr Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen and pressed him to admit that all of his efforts to prove otherwise had failed. But that wasn’t the only moment when the two men clashed during the discussion. Baier would also question Mr Trump about his new push to expand use of the death penalty to those convicted of selling narcotics, a plan that would likely have little if any chance of success of being passed into law. The Fox journalist noted that a woman Mr Trump took public credit and admiration for having her sentence commuted would have instead been executed under his plan, forcing the ex-president to back off his hardline stance and qualify that degrees of severity would ideally be considered under this imaginary system. Read More Trump claimed the Durham report would uncover the ‘crime of the century.’ Here’s what it really found Capitol rioter filmed shocking police officer with stun gun shouts ‘Trump won!’ as he is sentenced Ousted incumbents, key matchups set: Takeaways from Virginia's primary election Trump drops below 50 per cent among GOP voters in new CNN poll following second indictment Television veteran Geraldo Rivera says he's quitting Fox News' political combat show 'The Five' John Eastman’s expert witness in disbarment hearing is barred for not being an expert

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Investigators and family members of a North Carolina woman had not expected to find her remains after she went missing more than a month ago. On Thursday, the police said they found the remains of Allisha Watts, 39, who was last seen on 16 July. Her boyfriend of one year, James Dunmore, was arrested on the same day on suspicion of Watts’ murder, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Watts’ remains were found in a wooded area of a cemetery near the towns of Candor and Norman, sheriff Pete Herron said. “This is not the outcome that we had been hoping for, but by finding Allisha today... I hope and I pray it brings some closure to family and friends moving forward,” Mr Herron said at a news conference. Watts, who worked in the mental health field, was last seen in Charlotte, North Carolina on 16 July and her Mercedes was found in Anson County, southeast of Charlotte two days later. Mr Dunmore was found unresponsive inside the car, the county sheriff’s office said, according to CNN. It is not yet clear how her remains were found and how she died. Mr Dunmore, 51, who lives in Charlotte, was being held by police. The arrest warrant alleges he “unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did of malice aforethought kill and murder Allisha Watts”. He was arrested in the Charlotte area where Watts was visiting a residence on the day she went missing, police had said. Watts’ sister, Stephanie Johnson, told ABC News that her sister was with Mr Dunmore when she went missing. The two met when Watts drove to Charlotte to visit her cousin, Ms Johnson said. Talking about her sister, she said Watts was a “hard-working, independent, reliable, resourceful, loving, kind, attentive person”. The police said the case “is no longer considered a missing person investigation”. “This is not what we prayed for,” Watts’ friend, Dorothy Brower, told reporters after her body was recovered. “She was found, but it was not how we wanted to find her. She doesn’t deserve what her fate became. Just to dispose of someone who is just one of the best persons you could meet,” she said. Mr Dunmore is being held in the Montgomery County jail without bond . He is expected to appear in court on Monday. “This is an ongoing and active case and investigation, and there’s still much work to be done,” Mr Herron said. Read More Drink-driver who killed charity cyclist and hid body to be sentenced BTK serial killer is in the news again. Here's why and some background about his case Trump arrest live updates: Trump tweets historic mugshot after booking at Fulton County Jail