Proud Boy Edgar J. Delatorre — who uses the pseudonyms Edgar Gonzalez and Remy Del Toro — was arrested Tuesday after being caught on video pummeling a protester at a suburban rally he helped organize against President Joe Biden.
A Proud Boy who was present for the riot at the U.S. Capitol and has teased a run for the Illinois Senate was arrested Tuesday after being caught on video pummeling a protester at a rally against President Joe Biden.
Edgar J. Delatorre, 33, of Chicago, was charged with a misdemeanor count of battery in connection with the March 27 altercation in Schaumburg, police in the northwest suburb announced Wednesday. The fight came just two days after the Sun-Times reported that he planned to challenge state Sen. Antonio Munoz, D-1st, in next year’s election.
Delatorre initially identified himself to the Sun-Times as Edgar Gonzalez. But Delatorre has also used the pseudonym Remy Del Toro on social media and in a recent campaign flyer.
Police said officers monitoring the rally intervened when they saw three people “involved in a physical altercation” near the intersection of Meacham and Golf roads, police said.
Christian B. Carlsen, 44, of Streamwood, was then arrested and hit with the same charge as Delatorre, police said. After further investigation, Delatorre was also taken into custody. Both men have posted bail and been released.
Additional arrests are pending, police said.
Video of the dustup — posted online by a reporter from a far-right website — shows Delatorre attacking Carlsen as a woman on the ground attempts to regain her footing. After Delatorre lands a series of blows, Carlsen is seen shoving the woman before Delatorre wrestles him to the ground.
Delatorre told the Sun-Times he was merely defending the woman.
“I’m the kind of man that won’t harm a mouse till [it’s] time to step up to protect the innocent,” Delatorre said in a Twitter message.
The Proud Boys are well known for publicly sparring with antifascist activists. But now, members of the far-right group are also key targets of the sprawling federal investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection, including a Proud Boys leader who Delatorre was pictured near that day.
Though it’s unclear whether Delatorre has come under federal scrutiny, he was photographed that day signing a seditious document decrying unfounded claims of voter fraud. The document stated in part that “legal citizens possess the inherent authority to dissolve all such institutions intended by the Founders to provide Justice under Constitutional Law who are found to be corrupt and permeated by bias.”
Following Delatorre’s announcement that he planned to seek office, Munoz blasted him as “a racist Proud Boy who attacked our democracy at the U.S. Capitol.”
However, Delatorre’s big aspirations don’t end in Springfield. He also wants to replace Enrique Tarrio as the Proud Boys’ national chairman. The men were previously seen marching side by side during the Million MAGA March last November in Washington, D.C.
Tarrio, who ran for a U.S. House seat in Florida but withdrew before last year’s primary, has said that other members of the group were running for office, according to Insider.
But his reputation has since been dented by a Reuters report in January that outed him as a “prolific” informant to law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. The news came as federal authorities were cracking down on members of the Proud Boys for their role in the insurrection.
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3mxrixx
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