Enrique Tarrio, the leader of right-wing group The Proud Boys, has been ordered to stay away from Washington, DC, after he was fired. arrested for vandalism and charges. The verdict comes a day before pro-Trump demonstrations are planned in Washington when Congress is convened counts the votes of the Electoral College ahead of the president-elect Joe Bideninauguration on January 20th.
Tarrio was released Tuesday, but Judge Renee Raymond ordered him to leave Washington. Raymond said the government’s request for Tarrio to stay away was reasonable given his previous statements about the burning of anything related to Black Lives Matter, Raymond also ordered that Tarrio not possess firearms or ammunition in Washington.
Tarrio was arrested Monday after arriving in Washington on a charge of destroying a Black Lives Matter banner in a historically black church. He was found to possess several high-capacity firearms arising from criminal charges.
Trump has urged his supporters to gather in Washington to protest the election results and tweeted that he will be there. Congress will convene a joint session on Wednesday to count the votes of the Electoral College, the last formal step before Mr. Biden is sworn in.
The National Guard has been deployed in Washington at the request of Mayor Muriel Bowser. Firearms will not be allowed in the city, Metro Police Chief Robert Contee said Monday.
The original indictment against Tarrio, which came to Washington from Miami, stemmed from a Dec. 12 incident at the Asbury United Methodist Church, which is on the District of Columbia Historic Sites Registry and is the ‘oldest black church that remained in its original place. The church said its Black Lives Matter flag was razed and burned during pro-Trump rallies.
Tarrio told the Washington Post days after the incident that he had been involved in the burning of the flag, but insisted he had not been involved in any hate crime. He said he would surrender to the authorities, plead guilty to the destruction of property and pay the church the cost of the banner.
“So, let me make it simple. I did,” he said Dec. 18.
Asbury United Methodist Church replaced the stolen banner on Dec. 18 and then held a prayer service outside the church, according to the Washington Post.
Tarrio said the Proud Boys were reacting to the stabbing of four members of their group outside a nearby bar. The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, another historically black house of worship, also said a Black Lives Matter poster was also taken. That church filed a lawsuit Monday against Tarrio for destroying the banner.