Proud Boys Dealt Yet Another Legal Blow Courtesy of Default Judgement

These idiots decided they would ignore the lawsuit from one of the churches they targeted on Dec. 12, and a judge said, “Fine…”

After they decided not to respond to a lawsuit, a default judgement against the Proud Boys has been granted to a Washington, DC church that the neo-fascist group targeted during a march through that city’s streets, ripping down a Black Lives Matter banner from the front of it and setting it on fire.

According to news reports, a District of Columbia judge granted the judgement Friday to Metropolitan AME Church, a historic Black church, whose parishioners included Frederick Douglass and where his funeral was held. Reportedly on Dec. 12, when a group of Proud Boys members saw a Black Lives Matter sign displayed inside a wrought iron fence on the church’s property, they jumped the gate to take it down and destroy it. The church brought the suit under the D.C. Bias and Related Crimes Act for conspiracy, defacement of private property, trespass, and destruction of religious property. Texas-based Proud Boys International LLC, was named named as a defendant in the suit as was the group’s chairman, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who was arrested upon arrival in Washington, D.C. to participate in the Jan. 6, Stop the Steal rally. Tarrio ultimately was ordered by a judge to leave town before he was able to attend, and several Proud Boys have since been arrested on conspiracy charges stemming from the insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol that day.

Tarrio chose not to respond to the suit, deeming it irrelevant as the Proud Boys were not a “legal entity” and could possibly have assets that were vulnerable in the judgement. “If they try to go after mine, I’d be happy to drag my balls across their face in court,” Tarrio told VICE in an interview. Tarrio, along with Proud Boy leaders Joseph Biggs and Ethan “Rufio Panman” Nordean are registered agents of an LLC based at a Florida address connected to Tarrio and the Proud Boys themselves are connected to crowdfunding operations, and at least one online store selling Proud Boys–branded merch. When Tarrio was arrested, he was in possession of two rifle magazines with the Proud Boys logo printed on it, items he told police was merchandise. Tarrio has been at odds with many prominent Proud Boys after it was revealed that he had been an FBI informant at one time.

According to church attorneys, the default ruling means the Proud Boys forfeited the lawsuit and opens the door for further legal judgment.