A judge awarded Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Washington, D.C., more than $1 million in a lawsuit against the Proud Boys after the far-right extremist group burned down a Black Lives Matter banner during 2020 protests.
According to The Associated Press, Superior Court associate judge Neal A. Kravitz ruled in favor of Metropolitan A.M.E. on Friday after two Black Lives Matter banners were pulled down from their church and burned during clashes between the Proud Boys group and counter-demonstrators in December 2020. The extremist group also burned down banners at Asbury United Methodist Church, another historically Black church.
Kravitz barred the group and their leaders from coming near Metropolitan A.M.E., making threats or defamatory remarks against the church or its pastor for five years.
“Our courage and determination to fight back in response to the 2020 attack on our church is a beacon of hope for our community and today’s ruling showed us what our collective vision and voice can achieve,” said the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, pastor of Metropolitan A.M.E., in a statement from the church’s counsel on Saturday. “While A.M.E. refused to be silenced in the face of white supremacist violence, that does not mean real trauma and damage did not occur – merely that congregants and the church have and will continue to rise above it.”
Metropolitan A.M.E. alleged in the lawsuit that the Proud Boys violated D.C. and federal law by trespassing and destroying religious property in a bias-related conspiracy. The attacks stemmed from the extremist group protesting the results of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
The Associated Press reported that the ruling was a default judgment after the defendants failed to show up to court.
“The attack against Metropolitan A.M.E. was an attempt to silence the congregation’s voice and its support for Black life, dignity, and safety. It represents just the latest chapter in a long history of white supremacist violence targeting Black houses of worship,” said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in the church counsel’s statement. “These attacks are meant to intimidate and create fear, and this lawsuit’s aim was to hold those who engage in such action accountable.”
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, Miami resident and Proud Boys leader pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor criminal charges of property destruction and attempted possession of a high-capacity magazine in July 2021. He also publicly acknowledged setting fire to one of the two banners burned, which prosecutors said was stolen from Asbury United Methodist Church, according to The Associated Press.
He was reportedly sentenced to more than five months in jail. Tarrio and other members of the Proud Members were also convicted in May of seditious conspiracy charges as part of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio was not at the Capitol on Jan.6, but prosecutors said he organized and directed the attack.
