Proud Boys national leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio pleaded guilty to two charges on Monday, including the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner taken from Asbury United Methodist Church, a historic Black church in Washington, DC.
Tarrio, 37, also pleaded guilty in the DC Superior Court to one count of attempted possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device. Both offences carry a maximum sentence of a $US1,000 fine and/or six months in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for 23rd August.
In this 26th September, 2020, file photo, Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio wears a hat that says The War Boys during a rally in Portland, Oregon. PICTURE: AP Photo/Allison Dinner/File photo.
The banner burning occurred on 12th December, 2020, when thousands flocked to Washington, DC, to protest the election of Joe Biden as president. Tarrio was among a group of Proud Boys who tore down Black Lives Matter signs belonging to a number of churches in Washington.
A viral video shows the Proud Boys, wearing their standard black and yellow colours, burning a Black Lives Matter banner with the Asbury United Methodist logo on it. Tarrio later admitted to burning the banner on social media.
“It pained me especially to see our name, Asbury, in flames,” said Asbury’s pastor, Rev Ianther M Mills, in a statement released on 13th December. “For me it was reminiscent of cross burnings.”
Tarrio, from Miami, was arrested on 4th January, 2021, when he returned to DC, two days before the insurrection at the US Capitol. According to the US Department of Justice, he was carrying two high-capacity firearm magazines bearing the “Proud Boys” insignia. Tarrio later admitted he had intended to give the magazines to a customer who was also coming to Washington, DC.
By the day after Tarrio’s arrest, more than $US100,000 had been raised for his legal defence on the self-described Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.
Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, another historic Black church in Washington, announced a lawsuit on 4th January against the Proud Boys for destroying the church’s Black Lives Matter sign. In April, a Superior Court judge granted a default judgment that declared the Proud Boys had forfeited the case after failing to respond to the lawsuit.
The Proud Boys is a far-right group that’s been categorised as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Members were also present at the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
