Proud Boys Leader Gets Jail Time For Burning BLM Church Banner

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, was sentenced Monday to 155 days in jail for helping steal a Black Lives Matter flag from a church in Washington, D.C., in December and helping burn it, Reuters and others have reported.

Tarrio told the court he was “profusely” sorry for his actions, calling them a “grave mistake,” according to The Associated Press.

“What I did was wrong,” Tarrio said during the hearing held via videoconference, the AP reported.

Metropolitan police on Jan. 4 charged Tarrio with one misdemeanor count of destruction of property in connection with the burning of the Black Lives Matter banner, which was stolen from Asbury United Methodist Church on Dec. 12.

Tarrio was among a large group of Proud Boys who were in the nation's capital for a "Stop the Steal" protest that day, according to Reuters, which cited court documents.

Tarrio had a large-capacity ammunition magazine with him when he was arrested in the nation's capital two days ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection, which he was not present for, Reuters reported.

Tarrio pleaded guilty in July to two misdemeanors, according to earlier reports: one for the banner burning and another for attempted possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device in connection with the gun police found on him.

Authorities said Proud Boys members stole the banner that read #BLACKLIVESMATTER from Asbury United Methodist Church on Dec. 12 and then set it ablaze using lighter fluid and lighters.

Tarrio posted a picture of himself holding an unlit lighter to his Parler account and admitted days later in an interview with The Washington Post that he joined in the burning of the banner.

The Rev. Dr. Ianther Mills, senior pastor of the church, told the judge it was an “act of intimidation and racism” that caused “immeasurable and possibly irreparable harm” to the community.

“His careless act of violence and hatred, targeted at a congregation of individuals with a lived history of social and racial injustice, had the presumably desired effect,” she said. “Asbury was forced to reckon with the very tangible evidence that we continue to live in a world where people radicalize hate based upon race and skin color.”

Judge Harold L. Cushenberry Jr. of DC Superior Court handed down the 155-day sentence, CNN and others reported, a time that amounts to more than five months in jail.

"This court must respect the right of any citizen to peacefully assemble, protest, and make his or her views known on issues," Cushenberry said, according to CNN. "But Mr. Tarrio's conduct in these criminal cases vindicate none of these democratic values. Instead, Mr. Tarrio's actions betrayed them."

The Associated Press contributed reporting.