Josh Russell April 9, 2021
WASHINGTON (CN) — A District of Columbia judge on Friday granted a default judgment against the far-right Proud Boys after the group gave the cold shoulder to a historic Black church’s lawsuit over destruction of Black Lives Matter flags.
Two days before hundreds of pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the Trump-aligned extremist group Proud Boys was sued in D.C. Superior Court by a Washington church that claims it was terrorized in December 2020 when members of the group vandalized Black Lives Matter signs after a pro-Trump rally.
The Proud Boys’ once-fringe profile was given a heightened boost when then-President Donald Trump, in a debate against then-candidate Joe Biden last September, instructed the Proud Boys specifically by name to “stand back, and stand by.”
Emboldened by that apparent endorsement from the White House, the polo shirt-clad Proud Boys rallied for Trump twice in Washington following his election loss, with bold demonstrations deteriorating into downtown street brawls at nightfall.
At a hearing on Friday, Superior Court Judge Heidi Pasichow granted a default judgment to the Metropolitan AME Church that was attacked, after the antagonistic, white nationalist group failed to respond to the church’s lawsuit.