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On December 12, 2020, a group of Proud Boys, including Tarrio, stole a banner that read #BLACKLIVESMATTER from the property of Asbury United Methodist Church. The banner also carried the logo and website address of the church, the oldest black Methodist church in the city.
At the intersection of 11th and E streets NW, many unidentified members of the group crouched down and set the banner on fire using lighter fluid and lighters. Tarrio took responsibility for the banner fire, posting a photo of himself holding an extinguished lighter near the banner on the Talking social media platform. He also admitted to the violation in comments to several media.
Tarrio traveled from Florida to Washington, DC, on January 4 – two days before the Capitol uprising – where he was arrested for destroying property. When police searched his bag of books at the time of the arrest, they found two large-capacity gun magazines, both displaying the Proud Boys badge.
Tarrio told detectives he planned to give the gun magazines to a customer who “was also going to be in the District of Columbia.”
Numerous members of the Proud Boys have been indicted for their role in the assault on Capitol Hill on January 6. After Tarrio’s arrest in January, the Proud Boys turned to new leaders, including Ethan Nordean, a Seattle-based Proud Boys leader, who helped coordinate the group’s role in the insurgency, according to documents. details describing the activities of the pro-Trump nationalist group.
In March, prosecutors unveiled new conspiracy charges against four leaders of the group, accusing them of conspiracy to disrupt Congressional certification of the 2020 elections.
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