The leader of the far-right group Proud Boys has been arrested in Washington

Washington – Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right group Proud Boys, was arrested in Washington on Monday, where he planned to participate in a large-scale protest in support of the outgoing president on Wednesday Donald Trumplocal police confirmed.

Tarrio, of Cuban descent, was arrested when he arrived in the capital from Miami, where he lives, on charges of burning a banner with the slogan “Black Lives Matter” that he removed from a historic black church in the city last month. .

The leader of the far-right group is facing one charge of property destruction, a felony, in addition to two other charges for possession of firearms magazines with additional capacity for bullets, according to police sources quoted by The Washington Post.

The Proud Boys group is the group best known in recent months among the far-right organizations that support Trump, and both Tarrio and his followers planned to take part in a mega protest on Wednesday in support of the president in the capital. .

“The Proud Boys will take to the streets in unprecedented numbers, but this time with a difference,” Tarrio recently said on the social network Parler, which is used by many conservatives.

“We will not be wearing our traditional black and yellow uniform. We will be incognito and scattered in smaller squads throughout central Washington DC, ”he added.

Tarrio, who was also involved with the Latinos for Trump organization during the election campaign, acknowledged in an interview with the Washington Post in December that he had ripped off and burned the church banner.

“I did it,” the activist said, expecting he intended to plead guilty and pay the church the cost of the banner if he was formally charged.

However, his arrest apparently came as a surprise to Tarrio, who entered the U.S. capital in a vehicle on Monday when police stopped the car and arrested him.

Local police did not rule out the possibility that federal authorities could bring charges against Tarrio for hate crimes, something that could be punished more severely.

Tarrio denied in December that his actions were guided by a racist motivation against blacks, claiming that his problem with the Black Lives Matter movement was that he believed they had “ terrorized ” the country during last year’s protests against police brutality.

The Proud Boys have ties to white supremacist groups, but Tarrio has generally tried to avoid that label, which other members of his organization embrace more freely.

In addition to the Proud Boys, half a dozen other Trump-loyal groups on Wednesday called for a rally in Washington that is expected to approach the outgoing president.

The march coincides with the congressional rally for the formal and final electoral college votes counting Democrat Joe Biden to victory in the November election.

Several Republicans in Congress plan to challenge electoral votes in a few key states, promising to delay the ratification process for Biden’s victory for hours, although there are no real options that they will change the outcome of the election.