Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the right-wing group Proud Boys, was ordered to stay away from Washington, DC, after he was arrested for vandalism and gun charges. The decision comes the day before pro-Trump demonstrations are planned in Washington, while Congress meets to count the votes of the Electoral College ahead of the elected president Joe Bidenopening on January 20.
Tarrio was released from custody on Tuesday, but Judge Renee Raymond ordered him to stay away from Washington. Raymond said the government’s request for Tarrio to stay away was reasonable, given his earlier statements about burning anything associated with Black Lives Matter. Raymond also ordered that Tarrio not have a firearm or ammunition while in Washington.
Tarrio was arrested on Monday after arriving in Washington on charges of destroying a Black Lives Matter banner in a historically black church. He was found in possession of several high-capacity firearms, arising from criminal charges.
Trump asked his supporters to meet in Washington to protest the election results, and he tweeted that he will be there. Congress will meet on Wednesday for a joint session to count the votes of the Electoral College, the last formal step before Biden takes office.
The National Guard was sent to Washington at the request of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. Firearms will not be allowed in the city, Metro Police chief Robert Contee said on Monday.
The original charge against Tarrio, who came from Miami to Washington, resulted from a December 12 incident at the Asbury United Methodist Church, which is on the District of Columbia Register of Historic Places and is the oldest black church to remain in place. original. The church said its Black Lives Matter flag was dropped and burned during the pro-Trump rallies.
Tarrio told The Washington Post days after the incident that he participated in the flag burning, but he insisted that he had not participated in a hate crime. He said he would surrender to the authorities, plead guilty to destruction of property and pay the church the cost of the flag.
“So, let me simplify. I did it,” he said on December 18.
The Asbury United Methodist Church replaced the stolen flag on December 18 and then performed a prayer service outside the church, according to The Washington Post.
Tarrio said the Proud Boys were responding to the stabbing of four members of his group outside a nearby bar. The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, another historically black house of worship, also said that a Black Lives Matter plaque was also carried. That church filed a lawsuit on Monday against Tarrio for the destruction of the banner.