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DC judge orders Proud Boys members to pay church $1M-plus for destroying Black Lives Matter sign

July 2, 2023 | | Print Article

Members of the Proud Boys have been ordered by a judge to pay a black church $1+ million for ruining their Black Lives Matter sign.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz issued the order Friday against Proud Boys members Joseph R. Biggs, Enrique Tarrio, Jeremy Bertino and John Turano, as well as against the group’s limited liability corporation.

The order states they must pay $1+ million to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Washington, DC.

“In [the] blistering order, Kravitz described the ‘highly orchestrated’ and ‘hateful and overtly racist conduct’ from members of the Proud Boys during the ‘attack’ on the Metropolitan AME church, in which a Black Lives Matter sign owned by the church was allegedly destroyed,” CNN reported Saturday.

According to Kravitz’ order, on Dec. 12th, 2020, several Proud Boys members “leaped over Metropolitan AME’s fence, entered the church’s property, and went directly to the Black Lives Matter sign.”

“They then broke the zip ties that held the sign in place, tore down the sign, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it while loudly celebrating. Many others then jumped over the fence onto the church’s property and joined in the celebration of the sign’s destruction,” the order continues.

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Kravitz went on to describe the Metropolitan AME Church and its contributions to the local community.

“For generations, the leaders of Metropolitan AME and the members of its congregation have vocally and publicly supported movements for civil rights and racial justice. Church leaders and congregants view supporting the Black Lives Matter movement as a continuation of the church’s mission of advocacy for civil rights and racial justice,” he wrote.

And finally, the judge rebuked the Proud Boys, saying they have “incited and committed acts of violence against members of Black and African American communities across the country” and “also have victimized women, Muslims, Jews, immigrants, and other historically marginalized people.”

The good news for the Proud Boys is that the church had been seeking far more money.

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“A historically Black church is seeking a massive $22 million punitive judgment against the … Proud Boys for destroying the church’s Black Lives Matter sign in 2020,” Vice magazine reported in March.

“Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan AME church argues the multi-million-dollar figure, unveiled Wednesday as part of a long-running civil lawsuit, is justified as punishment for what the church’s legal team called a flagrant act of racially-charged intimidation, and to deter the Proud Boys from similar actions in the future.”

In a statement issued following Friday’s ruling, the church’s attorney said, “The ultimate goal of this lawsuit was not monetary windfall, but to stop the Proud Boys from being able to act with impunity, without fear of consequences for their actions. And that’s exactly what we accomplished.”

Critics responded to the ruling with some cynicism, given all the 2020 Black Lives Matter rioters who were never charged for all the documented vandalism and arson they’d committed.

Look:

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As previously reported, the Proud Boys is a pro-free-speech, pro-liberty fraternity. It has in recent years been labeled an “extremist” organization by the media over its members’ habit of combatting violent left-wing extremism with violent right-wing extremism. Or, in other words, their habit of fighting fire with fire …

Vivek Saxena
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