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In November 2022, the New York Instances revealed that the self-described “Godmother of the Miami Crypto Scene” had been accused of sending the far-right Proud Boys the doc with an in depth plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In response to the report, only one week earlier than the January 6, 2021 rebellion, Flores offered then-Proud Boys chief and Miami native Enrique Tarrio with the “1776 Returns” plan, outlining a scheme to storm authorities buildings across the Capitol.
The doc was a core part of the seditious conspiracy cost introduced in opposition to members of the violent extremist group and its commander-in-chief Tarrio, who was sentenced to greater than 22 years in jail for his position within the rebellion. Gemma was not charged with any crime within the case.
Regardless of being outed because the alleged brains behind the Proud Boys’ January 6 assault, Flores has stored herself booked and busy.
Eryka Gemma was a central determine within the Miami cryptocurrency increase, at one level education Mayor Francis Suarez on digital foreign money.
It seems that because the Instances report was revealed in late 2022, Flores has been a featured speaker for not less than six conferences held in Miami and past.
A number of weeks after the report’s publication, Flores was one of some dozen keynote audio system featured at TechBeach Retreat Summit, a tech convention held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, between November 30 and December 2.
In Could 2023, she headlined the third-annual Shitcoin convention in Miami earlier than popping up at Bitcoin 2023 in Miami Seashore, the place she mentioned cryptocurrency as a part of an extended lineup of tech CEOs and authors, with anti-vax presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (who was additionally operating for president on the time) on the prime of the invoice.
In December 2023, she was a speaker at Unconfiscatable, a Bitcoin convention and superstar poker match held in Las Vegas.
Most not too long ago, on January 25, she was amongst 4 panelists chosen for an occasion on the Ritz Carlton Bal Harbour in regards to the digitalization of property.
A self-described libertarian, Flores was the youngest delegate in Washington state to work for Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential marketing campaign. She’s attributed her love for cryptocurrency to her roots in libertarian politics.
After a stint within the plane buying and selling and leasing business, Flores pivoted to cryptocurrency, launching “Miami Worldwide Bitcoin” in 2015, which she described as a “meet-up group” that finally was a Fb group the place folks would chat about cryptocurrency.
Flores turned recognized in Miami’s cryptocurrency circles as a enterprise capitalist and fierce advocate for digital foreign money, at one level garnering credit score for educating Miami Mayor Francis Suarez about Bitcoin and selling Miami as a crypto-friendly metropolis, notably certainly one of Suarez’s extra passionate missions as mayor.
She based town’s Bitcoin Middle, a tech schooling hub within the downtown space, in addition to the Miami Blockchain Middle, which Google now lists as “completely closed.”
She was described in courtroom paperwork as a onetime “romantic curiosity” of Tarrio.
Although Gemma had a number of talking engagements booked over the previous 12 months and nonetheless has a following within the crypto scene, the amount of publicly accessible YouTube content material and podcast interviews with which she’s been concerned seems to have dwindled since information broke of her alleged interactions with the Proud Boys chief. Native politicians like Suarez haven’t been rubbing shoulders with Gemma as they as soon as did.
One in all Gemma’s final public appearances with a Miami politician was a September 2022 podcast chat with then Miami-Dade County Fee candidate Martha Bueno, throughout which Gemma talked about financial turmoil, telling viewers, “You guys know the shit is hitting the fan.”
“You have to encompass your self with individuals who you already know will have the ability to survive what’s coming and likewise have the ability to prosper as a result of the one factor that is promised to us when crashes occur — it is actually two issues — one, some individuals are going to lose all the things, and two, some individuals are going to make it out on prime,” Gemma mentioned.
Gemma then famous her Blockchain Middle closed “due to the ‘flu,'” her moniker to reduce the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak. She mentioned she had since been focusing on managing her enterprise capital and advisory agency that was investing in corporations supporting blockchain infrastructure.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez carries out the ribbon chopping ceremony for Eryka Gemma Flores’ Miami Blockchain Middle on June 14, 2019.
Picture by World Purple Eye
As beforehand reported by New Instances, textual content messages launched as proof in Tarrio’s trial present correspondence wherein an “Eryk-A” transmits the doc to Tarrio round 12:50 p.m. on December 30, 2020.
“If you happen to don’t like my plan, let me know. I’ll pitch elsewhere,” one message to Tarrio reads. “However I need you to be the executor and benefitor [sic] of my brilliance.”
The plan demanded a brand new election with solely in-person paper ballots. It declares, “You’re the revolution. Be part of historical past and struggle for this nation so your youngsters do not must.”
When describing the messages, federal prosecutors within the Tarrio trial have referred to the sender as “Erika Flores,” noting that she pleaded the Fifth Modification and refused to reply questions in regards to the 1776 Returns doc after receiving a subpoena in 2022.
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