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WASHINGTON – The far-right Proud Boys leader was sentenced to more than five months in prison on Monday after admitting to burning a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a historic black church in Washington during a pro-Trump protest in December .
Henry Tarrio, known to supporters as Enrique, was arrested on January 4 in Washington on a warrant resulting from an incident on December 12. The Proud Boys and other groups marched in a noisy rally in the city center. The banner was stolen from Asbury United Methodist Church, one of Washington’s oldest black churches.
Tarrio, 37, of Miami, also pleaded guilty to attempting to own a high capacity firearms magazine, which is illegal in Washington. Investigators said he had the magazines with him when he returned to town for the Jan.6 protests against the vote count in Congress.
Both counts were misdemeanors, punishable by up to six months in prison.
Federal prosecutors recommended 90 days in jail followed by three months probation and an order barring him from returning to Washington. They said his burning of the banner “had a profound emotional and psychological effect on the church and its members” and that he openly bragged about it, stating on social media: “I’m so damn proud of the have done!”
A senior pastor of the church, the Reverend Dr Ianther Mills, spoke at the hearing before the sentence was handed down. She called Tarrio’s conduct “an act of intimidation and racism” and he called her action “a social media trophy”.
Tarrio told the judge on Monday he made “a serious mistake” in burning the banner. “I apologize deeply. I did not see the consequences of what I did.”
But prosecutors said video taken during the December protest showed him standing on and around church property as other members of the Proud Boys stole the banner. “Surely he knew where he was and where the banner he had burned came from – with Asbury’s name imprinted on it.
Superior Court Judge Harold Cushenberg said Tarrio “did not credibly express genuine remorse” and sentenced him to a total of 155 days.
Tarrio was ordered to surrender to Washington, DC jail on September 6.
The guilty plea and sentence were unrelated to the Jan.6 riot on Capitol Hill, in which at least three dozen members or supporters of the Proud Boys were indicted. Federal prosecutors have said in court documents that Tarrio, dubbed the “chairman of the Proud Boys,” posted messages on social media that the group members planned to “show up in record numbers on January 6.”
After Tarrio’s arrest, prosecutors said, other members of the group took over planning what would happen when Congress met to count the electoral vote for the president.
Federal law enforcement officials said Washington Police were told he was traveling to Washington for the event and were looking for him, ready to arrest him for burning the banner.
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