Enrique Tarrio, leader of the white supremacist group, was arrested on charges of destroying property during protests in December. The arrest was made at the gates of a rally called for Wednesday in Washington by Trump supporters.
Enrique Tarrio, leader of far-right group Proud Boys, was arrested on charges of destroying property during protests in December that led to several violent clashes in Washington. The arrest came at the gates of a rally called for this Wednesday by Trump supporters.
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Tarrio, of Cuban descent, was arrested when he arrived in Washington from Miami on charges related to the burning of a banner with the slogan “Black Lives Matter” that he removed last month from a historic black church in the city.
The leader of the far-right group faces a charge of destruction of property, a misdemeanor, in addition to two other charges of possession of firearms with extra capacity for bullets, according to police sources quoted by the newspaper The Washington Post.
Tarrio, who during the election campaign was also involved in the organization Latinos for Trump, He acknowledged in December in an interview with the Washington Post who had ripped off the church banner and burned it. Tarrio advanced that he planned to plead guilty and pay the church for the cost of the banner if he was formally charged.
Local police did not rule out that federal authorities could file charges against Tarrio for hate crimes, which could lead to higher sentences.
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Tarrio denied in December that his actions were guided by a racist motivation against blacks, and has claimed that his problem with the “Black Lives Matter” movement was that, in his opinion, they had “landed” in the country during the last year’s protests against police brutality.
The Proud Boys are an exclusively male neo-fascist group founded in New York in 2016 by Gavin McInnes. This group adopted Trump’s motto “Making America Great Again” posting it next to its yellow and black logo on the social network Telegram. They promote ideas such as carrying weapons and traditional gender roles.
Washington activates the National Guard
Washington authorities activated at least 340 National Guard soldiers to protect the U.S. capital from a rally called for Wednesday by Donald Trump supporters. Tarrio announced that members of his group will attend Wednesday’s demonstrations “with a difference.”
“The Proud Boys will take to the streets in unprecedented numbers, but this time with a difference,” he said. “We will not be wearing our traditional black and yellow uniforms. small, ”he said.
Organizing groups have estimated that about 15,000 people will gather in the city center when Congress meets to certify the Electoral College votes, which gave Democrat Joe Biden the victory in the November election.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference that she is considering a curfew, and Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee has said that information has been received about individuals who will try to enter the District of Columbia with guns.
Contee added that authorities expect a larger crowd than previous pro-Trump demonstrations in the city, which ended in violent clashes.
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For his part, Million MAGA March, who proclaims himself as the official organizer of the rally, has invited his supporters to “take part in Trump’s biggest political event in U.S. history.”
They have also promised their participation militias such as Three Percents, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers that caravans with stays in several cities across the country are already mobilizing on their way to Washington DC, where they will be banned from carrying firearms, as they have done in other demonstrations.
TheDonaldWin group, on its internet portal, has invited participants to “carry their weapons” and, in preparation for the day, the authorities have placed posters in the areas where the demonstration will take place remembering the ban on firearms in the capital of the United States.
“Members of the public and anyone participating in the demonstrations are reminded that District law prohibits the carrying of a firearm within 300 meters of any political activity,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser in a statement.
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Thousands of Trump supporters marched in Washington DC in mid-December, many in combat attire, and in the evening at least four people were stabbed near a bar that has become instead of Proud Boys group meeting.
“It’s a very scary time,” Susnara Taylor, a spokeswoman for the group refusefascism.org, told local television. “It’s scary both for the immediate safety of people on the streets and even more so for the future.”
“We are very concerned about the violent protesters coming to the city,” he added. “The last time they were here they attacked innocent pedestrians. This is white supremacist terrorism and knowing this, Donald Trump has repeatedly praised them for having already summoned these people to flood the streets.”