ANNALS OF TRUMPI$TAN: CONVICTED FELON, Former Proud Boys leader, Enrique Tarrio posts photo with Rubio at ‘Shield of the Americas’ summit (Jonathn Carter, The Hill, March 8, 2026)

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Enrique Tarrio, a far-right activist and former Proud Boys national chair, posted a photo of himself with Secretary of State Marco Rubio taken at the inaugural “Shield of the Americas” summit in Florida on Saturday.

Tarrio posted the photo on Saturday on the social platform X with a caption that read, in part, “Proud of this Cuban!” He also wrote “down with communism,” in Spanish, an apparent nod to the current Cuban regime, which has been hit with an oil embargo from President Trump.

“With @SecRubio at the Shield of the Americas summit,” he wrote. “By far the President Trumps choices for his cabinet. Proud of this Cuban! Abajo con el comunismo!” Tarrio went on to correct himself, saying, “The best choice by the President* Excuse me.”

Tarrio, who led the white nationalist organization from 2018-21, was sentenced in 2023 to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy following his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump pardoned himand other Jan. 6 rioters last year.

The Shield of the Americas summit, hosted in Doral, Fla., was intended to gather the U.S.’s “strongest likeminded allies in our hemisphere to promote freedom, security, and prosperity in our region. This historic coalition of nations will work together to advance strategies that stop foreign interference in our hemisphere, criminal and narco-terrorist gangs and cartels, and illegal and mass immigration,” according to a release from the State Department.

“On this historic day, we come together to announce a brand-new military coalition to eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region,” Trump said during the event, which convened a range of Latin American leaders and members of his administration, among others.

The summit followed Trump’s announcement on Thursday that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would serve as special envoy to this new Shield of the Americas security initiative.

Tarrio has a background in Florida politics. He was the Florida grassroots director for Latinos for Trump and was a candidate in 2020 for a Florida U.S. House seat. 

He was arrested for simple assault near the Capitol last year during a protest when a counterprotester filed charges against him.