Proud Boys Leader Arrested and Charged With Burning BLM Banner Displayed in Black DC Church

On Monday, The Root reported that church officials from several congregations in Washington, D.C., have requested that local police provide extra protection ahead of the whiney and delusional white people convention scheduled for later this week in protest of the election results. The request was made amid a similar Dec. 12 protest during which mobs of MAGA-humping racists ripped down and burned a number of Black Lives Matter signs and banners displayed in Black churches in DC—acts that prompted a lawsuit to be filed on behalf of one church and, on Monday afternoon, resulted in the arrest of a Proud Boys leader who claimed responsibility for the vandalism.

The Washington Post reports that Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested by D.C. police and charged with one misdemeanor count of destruction of property in connection with the burning of a banner stolen from Asbury United Methodist Church. Dustin Sternbeck, a D.C. police spokesman, said that Tarrio, who lives in Miami, Fla., was stopped by police coming into the District. Along with the misdemeanor charge, he’s facing two felony counts of possession of high-capacity ammunition feeding devices—the legal term for illegal magazines that allow guns to hold more bullets. The devices were found on Tarrio during his arrest.

From the Post:

Tarrio could appear Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court. Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in the District could modify the charges brought by police.

Authorities had described the burning of the banner as a potential hate crime. Sternbeck said it would be up to prosecutors to determine whether to file hate crime charges, which could increase the penalty.

Tarrio last month told The Post that he would plead guilty to destruction of property, pay the church the cost of the banner and surrender to authorities if a criminal charge were filed.

However, Tarrio said he would not admit to committing a hate crime.

He said he was not motivated by race, religion or political ideology, but because he believes the Black Lives Matter movement “has terrorized the citizens of this country.”

So there you have it folks: The targeting of Black churches and banners that advocate for the humanity of Black people to be respected wasn’t an act of racism, it was an effort to counter what Tarrio interprets as terrorism—by committing actual acts of terrorism.

Sorry, I forgot Tarrio claims his band of conservative ass-clowns with ties to white nationalism didn’t actually know that Asbury United Methodist, one of the oldest Black churches in the city, was, in fact, a Black church.

“We didn’t Google the church and go, ‘Oh, it’s a Black church, let’s target it,’” Tarrio said, the Post reports. “The sign was taken down because of what it represents.” For the record: Black Lives Matter “represents” nothing but the mattering of Black lives. The only reason conservatives are so easily convinced that it’s a terrorist organization despite the fact that BLM protests are peaceful far more often than not is that they’re racist.

Anyway, according to the Post, the misdemeanor destruction of property charge is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, that doesn’t include the potential hate crime enhancement. It’s unclear what penalty Tarrio faces if found guilty of the felony possession charges.