Proud Boys Leader Banned From Washington, DC After Day In Court

The leader of the Proud Boys was banned from staying in Washington, D.C. until his next court hearing, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio, 36, was charged with stealing and destroying a Black Lives Matter banner and for possessing two high-capacity firearm magazines and issued a pretrial stay away order, according to court records. Tarrio was released from jail, but is subject to arrest if he remains in the district, the judge ruled.

The Proud Boys are part of the pro-President Donald Trump protests against certifying the results of the presidential election, organizers said on Twitter.

The AR-15/M4 30 round magazines donning Proud Boys emblems carried by Tarrio were not loaded, according to the court filing. Tarrio told police he sells the magazines on his website and that a customer’s order had been shipped to the wrong address, so he was planning on delivering them when they met in Washington.

“I have a customer, and I can show you proof of that, cause I knew, I was like, ‘Oh, I have mags in my bag, and now they are going to start asking me about the mags,’” Tarrio said, according to the court filing.

Tarrio’s attorney requested that he only be banned from Black Lives Matter Plaza, but the judge denied the request, adding that Black Lives Matter banners are displayed throughout the city, the DCist reported.

Tarrio was arrested upon entering Washington Monday night ahead of expected protests against certifying the results of the presidential election, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported. He was suspected of stealing and burning a Black Lives Matter sign from the Asbury United Methodist Church, one of the oldest black churches in the city.

“Today, January 4, 2021, upon entering the District of Columbia and pursuant to a DC Superior Court Arrest Warrant, MPD members arrested 36-year-old Henry ‘Enrique’ Tarrio, of Miami, FL. He was charged with Destruction of Property related to an offense that occurred on Saturday, December 12, 2020, in the 900 block of 11^th Street, Northwest,” MPD Spokesperson Sean Hickman told the DCNF Monday night.

Tarrio posted to social media site Parler on Dec. 29 that “The Proud Boys will turn out in record numbers on Jan 6th but this time with a twist … We will not be wearing our traditional Black and Yellow. We will be incognito and we will spread across downtown DC in smaller teams,” according to the court filing.

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