Proud Boys hold bizarre ritual that ends in kissing and ‘ass-slapping’, says leader
Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has revealed a bizarre annual event where members of the far-right group kiss one another and lick each other’s faces.
Tarrio, 39, was convicted in August for stealing and setting fire to a Black Lives Matter flag from a Black Methodist church as well as for possessing two high-capacity firearm magazines that are banned in Washington DC.
Six days before he booked himself into prison, Tarrio gave an interview to Vice News. He explained that he was brought into the group as something of a peacemaker in 2018 as some members considered splintering off into different factions.
“At our national event, every year, we put a boxing ring together, or I rent an octagon, the guys put gloves on, and they just f**king go ham on each other,” he told the outlet.
But sometimes, the “Straight Pride” supporter claimed, members “don’t even want to fight”.
“They get drunk,” he said, “they slap each other’s asses, they kiss each other on the fucking cheek, lick each other in the f**king face, you know?
“And I’m like, you guys were just f**king calling each other the most stupidest thing just a month ago.”
This bonding experience, he said, is “pretty magical”.
Proud Boys leader pretended to burn down Capitol Hill before jail sentence
As Enrique Tarrio reported to a DC prison Monday night (6 September), the agitator was filmed brandishing a lighter and smiling in front of Capitol Hill in a way that it looked like he was torching the building.
He wore a t-shirt with a photograph of Malcolm X and the message “@FreeTheProudBoys By Any Means Necessary” as he arrived to serve his five month sentence.
Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio reports to prison tonight to start his sentence. pic.twitter.com/9luybuIOxb
— Frank Figliuzzi (@FrankFigliuzzi1) September 7, 2021
Here is Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, just before reporting to prison to begin serving his 5-month prison sentence for burning a Black Lives Matter flag. Look at what this jackass is doing here – staging a photo where he holds a lighter up to the US Capitol. pic.twitter.com/DSikROmwRA— Duty To Warn ? (@duty2warn) September 7, 2021
Tarrio was also filmed by reporters strolling with a pal singing “A Drop of Nelson’s Blood” and sharing a hug before he departed.
At the time of the December 2020 flag-burning incident, Tarrio was at a pro-Donald Trump demonstration.
“I’ve nothing to say to the members of that church or congregation anymore,” Tarrio told reporters as he walked through DC. “I already apologised to them once.
“The same justice system that Black Lives Matter fights for is the same justice system championing my arrest, and I find that hysterical.”
Only weeks later would members of the group, among other violent white supremacists and far-right militant groups, bulldoze through the doors of the Capitol complex and riot on 6 January. They sought to overturn Trump’s defeat in the presidential election.
The Proud Boys are listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a hate group and are considered by at least one official US agency to be white nationalists.
