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A historic African-American church in Washington DC has filed a lawsuit in opposition to members of the far-right nationalist group the Proud Boys after its management took credit score for burning a church’s Black Lives Matter banner throughout a rally supporting Donald Trump final month.
Two banners – one at Metropolitan AME and one other at Asbury United Methodist Church – had been burned in the course of the teams’ violent demonstrations within the nation’s capital on 12 December.
Metropolitan AME, with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, sued Proud Boys International LLC, eight unnamed members and organiser Enrique Tarrio after he admitted in feedback on the right-wing social media app Parler and on a Proud Boys-affiliated podcast that he was liable for burning a church’s signal.
“In the burning of the BLM sign, I was the one that lit it on fire,” he stated on the War Boys podcast final month. “I was the person that went ahead and put the lighter to it and engulfed it in flames, and I am damn proud that I did.”
Lawyers’ Committee president Kristen Clarke introduced that the swimsuit “seeks to hold accountable those responsible for vandalising and terrorising a historic Black church because of its support for racial justice.”
“This attack is a new chapter in a long and despicable history of mob violence targeting Black houses of worship,” she announced on social media. “We want to make clear to the Proud Boys and other extremists who dare to assault our institutions, our humanity and our dignity, that we will stand up and hold them accountable. Attacks on Black churches have no place in society today.”
Washington DC police are investigating the “destruction of property offense” as a hate crime with assist from the FBI.
US Attorney Michael Sherwin stated in a press release final month that the fires had been meant to “terrorize Black people, violated DC law and were hate crimes.”
“They harmed people of colour, and every person who lives and works in our city who believes in fairness, justice and racial equity,” he stated.
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