The far-right extremist group Proud Boys is being hit was a lawsuit after they burned down a Black Lives Matter flag that belonged to a historic Black church in Washington, DC, during a pro-Trump rally in December.
According to Monday’s filing, The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church brought the suit against the Proud Boys, its leader, Enrique Tarrio, and eight more unnamed defendants for allegedly “engaging in acts of terror and vandalizing church property in an effort to intimidate the Church and silence its support for racial justice.”
Videos showing the December 12 incident at the church and others showing the destruction of Black Lives Matter flags were widely shared online in December. According to the Washington Post, four churches were vandalized during the rally.
Proud Boys tear down another Black Lives Matter board from the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church #DC #MarchForTrump #DefendDC #ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/ml1TbhV98Q
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) December 13, 2020
A Spokesperson for the DC Metropolitan Police Department confirmed in a statement that Tarrio was arrested in DC on Monday night on the destruction of property charges related to the incident. He was also hit with a possession charge after police found he was carrying two high capacity firearm magazines.
He had previously claimed responsibility for burning a Black Lives Matter banner from the Asbury United Methodist Church. “Against the wishes of my attorney, I am here today to admit that I am the person responsible for the burning of this sign,” he wrote in a Parler post. “And I am not ashamed of what I did because I didn’t do it out of hate…I did it out of love.”
In a tweet, the president and executive director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Kristen Clarke, called the incident “a new chapter in a long and despicable history of mob violence targeting Black houses of worship.” Clarke continued, “Our suit seeks to hold accountable those responsible for vandalizing and terrorizing a historic Black church because of its support for racial justice.”
The complaint that was filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on Monday alleges that the members of the Proud Boys, which was deemed a hate group by Southern Poverty Law Center, “traveled to Washington D.C. for the purpose of committing further acts of violence.”
The Proud Boys are preparing to return to Washington on Wednesday when Congress is scheduled to finalize the results of the presidential election. The Proud Boys, a far-right movement, is allied with Donald Trump, and several members of the party do not believe in the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
Tarrio, who appeared to have been arrested on his way to DC for the demonstration, told Parler that the group’s armed members would not wear their usual black-and-yellow uniform but would wear all the black clothes to be “incognito” in an attempt to fit in with Antifa counter-protesters.
The Proud Boys was established in 2016 as a “Western chauvinists” fraternity, which became increasingly noticeable during the 2020 elections. Although the party claims to disavow white supremacy, its founders included many white supremacists.
The group is also increasingly pro-Trump, as the president seems to have shown their support. During the September presidential debate, when he was asked to condemn white-supremacist groups like the Proud Boys, Trump ordered them to “stand back and stand by.”
BREAKING: We are suing the Proud Boys and their members for the racist attack on Metropolitan AME church in Washington DC. This attack was one of several levied against churches targeted for their support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Proud Boys are NOT above the law. pic.twitter.com/CB53Upi9wH
— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) January 4, 2021
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