By Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A judge in the District of Columbia on Monday sentenced Enrique Tarrio, a leader of the right-wing extremist group the Proud Boys, to 155 days in jail for burning a Black Lives Matter flag and possessing a large-capacity ammunition magazine.
Tarrio pleaded guilty to the charges last month.
He has led the Proud Boys in confrontations with antifa, an amorphous leftist movement.
According to court documents, Tarrio was among a group of Proud Boys during a demonstration in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020, who stole a Black Lives Matter banner from a church. Tarrio then set it on fire, according to comments he made afterward.
He was arrested in January when he arrived in Washington two days before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He was carrying two large-capacity ammunition magazines at the time.
Tarrio did not take part in the riot, in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol, sending lawmakers into hiding as they sought to certify his election defeat to Joe Biden.
The FBI has said Tarrio’s arrest was an effort to pre-empt the events of Jan. 6, where several other members of the Proud Boys were taken into custody.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Aram Roston; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Peter Cooney)
