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January 5, 2021, 9:16 am
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, arrested on Monday in Washington, D.C. ahead of a planned Wednesday rally, has admitted to one of the crimes he’s been arrested for on social media platform Parler.
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Tarrio is being charged with misdemeanor destruction of property for burning a Black Lives Matter flag at a historically Black D.C. church on Dec. 12. That’s an action that he’s confessed to via a Dec. 18 post on Parler.
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According to the Daily Dot’s reporting, Tarrio wrote:
“The FBI is currently investigating a supposed ‘hate crime’ perpetrated by the ProudBoys. They’re even offering a reward. I’m here to tell you that there was no hate crime committed.
The only hate there is in my heart is for communism and an authoritarian government. BLM is a Marxist movement. It isn’t about the color of someone’s skin.”
Tarrio went on to say in the post:
“Against the wishes of my attorney I am here today to admit that I am the person responsible for the burning of this sign.
And I am not ashamed of what I did because I didn’t do it out of hate…I did it out of love. Love for a country that has given my family SO MUCH.
The burning of this banner wasn’t about race religion or political ideology it was about a racist movement that has terrorized the citizens of this country. I will not standby and watch them burn another city. So let me make this simple. I did it.”
According to freelance journalist Hilary Sargent, Tarrio’s last Parler post, prior to his Monday arrest, declared, “So sue me put me in chains or attempt to destroy me. The armor of God protects me.”
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Tarrio was also arrested, according to USA Today, for being in possession of two high-capacity firearm magazines.
In fact, Tarrio was on a phone call with a reporter from USA Today when, as the publication noted, “the call was interrupted by loud sirens. He joked that ‘They’re for me,’ and then, sounding confused, asked the driver of the car he was riding in to pull over. Tarrio told the reporter, ‘Here’s something to write about,’ before hanging up the call.”
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USA Today’s account noted, “Earlier in the day, Tarrio, whose legal first name is Henry, was also sued by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in relation to the banner-burning incident. The lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., Superior Court, cites numerous instances of Proud Boys posting threatening and violent messages on social media before the December Trump rally that resulted in violence across downtown D.C.”
*First Published: January 5, 2021, 9:16 am
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