Uncategorized

Getty Images By Kevin L. Clark ·August 25, 2021 Published · August 25, 2021 Updated

Henry Tarrio, better known as “Enrique,” the leader of the right-wing Proud Boys extremist group, is copping pleas after a judge sentenced him to five months in jail.

The Proud Boys, a far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization have caused quite a few outbursts across the country, especially during the heights of the Black Lives Matter movement. Tarrio, who also served as the Florida state director of Latinos for Trump, was found guilty of burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington.He was also found to have brought two high-capacity firearm magazines into the nation’s capital days shortly before the Jan. 6 riot.

Now looking to atone for his actions, Tarrio was “profusely” sorry for his actions, telling the court that he made a “grave mistake.”“What I did was wrong,” Tarrio said during the hearing held via videoconference.

The 37-year-old extremist was arrested on Jan. 4, two days before thousands of pro-Trump supporters — including members of the Proud Boys — would attempt to disrupt the certification of the Electoral College vote. And on Dec. 12, authorities highlight that Proud Boys members stole the #BlackLivesMatter banner from the Asbury United Methodist Church and then set it ablaze using lighter fluid and lighters.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Tarrio admitted that he was actually there during the burning of the banner. A picture of him holding an unlit lighter was discovered on his Parler account, which aided in him copping another plea while in court. 

“His careless act of violence and hatred, targeted at a congregation of individuals with a lived history of social and racial injustice, had the presumably desired effect,” Rev. Dr. Panther Mills, senior pastor of the church, shared with the judge. “Asbury was forced to reckon with the very tangible evidence that we continue to live in a world where people radicalize hate based upon race and skin color.”

No hate crimes were filed against Tarrio, despite the judge arguing that he deserved more time behind bars than the three months that prosecutors had sought. “Mr. Tarrio has clearly — intentionally and proudly — crossed the line from peaceful protest and assembly to dangerous and potentially violent criminal conduct,” the judge said. 

In addition to the Proud Boys, there are the 3-Percenters and the Oath Keepers, other extremist groups that participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and make up most of the serious charges levied upon those who participated in the insurrection.

About three dozen people have been identified by federal authorities as Proud Boys leaders, members, or associates. Specifically, four group leaders — Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Charles Donohoe — were charged earlier this year with conspiring to impede the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. 

Tarrio was also not charged in the Capitol attack. 

Court records revealed that Tarrio had worked undercover and cooperated with investigators after a fraud accusation in 2012. Some local chapters have begun to cut ties with national leadership in the weeks after the Capitol insurrection, while the Proud Boys’ chairman called for a pause in their rallies. 

Under his indictment, Tarrio would help the government prosecute more than a dozen other people within the organization.

TOPICS:  Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter DC BLM

The post Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Sentence to Jail For ‘Black Lives Matter’ Flag Burning appeared first on Essence.

Did you forget that we were getting a fourth installment of The Matrix franchise? You’d be forgiven, because we’ve been short on updates for the movie, which is slated to be released around Christmas 2021 in theaters and on HBO Max. But now a whole lot of data about The Matrix 4 is about to flood our neural pathways.

This week at CinemaCon, attendees were treated to a title reveal and a first look at footage from the film. The Matrix 4 is officially titled The Matrix Resurrections. This fits nicely with the movies’ themes as well as their “R” naming patterns to date (the last two movies were The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, and there was the direct-to-video The Matrix Revisited).

Resurrections is written and directed by Lana Wachowski. Her sister Lilly Wachowski, who co-wrote and directed the other films with Lana, could not be involved because of commitments elsewhere, but has expressed her best wishes for the project, saying she hopes that it’s “better than the original.”

Here is The Hollywood Reporter’s breakdown of the footage aired at CinemaCon. It appears that in many ways we’re staring back at the beginning:

The trailer began with Thomas Anderson (Reeves) in therapy, telling his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris), “I had dreams that weren’t just dreams. Am I crazy?” He senses something is not quite right with the world, but he has no memory of what The Matrix is. Later, he runs into a woman (Moss) at a coffee shop. They shake hands, and there seems to be something between them, but neither one remembers the other. Meanwhile, Reeves’ Thomas spends his days taking prescription blue pills, and wondering why everyone in his world is glued to their phones — looking around and realizing he’s the only one on a crowded elevator not looking at a device.

Eventually, Reeves’ Thomas runs into a man (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who is reminiscent of Morpheus, the freedom fighter played by Laurence Fishburne in the original trilogy. This mysterious man hands Anderson a red pill, and soon we see footage of him with powers, seeing The Matrix for the fake reality that it is. The footage followed some similar beats of the original, including Neo (Reeves) fighting the Morpheus-like figure in a dojo, and an image of Anderson in an incubator. There’s also a shot of Neo looking in a mirror and seeing an older version of himself. Neo also seems to have a few new powers from the last time, with the trailer including a shot of what looks like him controlling a missile through telekinesis to prevent it from hitting him.

io9’s Germain Lussier saw the CinemaCon footage and also had an excellent, detailed write-up of the action. Here’s a bit more:

Neo and the person with blue hair walk through a mirror. He’s in a café. Then he’s in a very serene dojo, which is on a lake, with Abdul-Mateen’s character. “The only thing that matters to you is still here,” he says. “You’ll never give up.” They begin to perform martial arts, and when Thomas hits Abdul-Mateen’s character hard in the chest and he flies out of the room.

Thomas and the blue-haired person are on a train. A bullet from a sniper is shot from far away and it flies through the train toward them. Tons of action scenes now cut very quickly. We see the fields of people plugged into the matrix. Trinity being unplugged in the matrix. The blue haired person jumping over a car in slow motion. Thomas holds bullets in the air. A helicopter fires a missile at Thomas and Trinity, and Thomas changes its direction mid-air and shoots it into another helicopter. Then, Thomas is in an office with a man in a business suit played by Jonathan Groff. “You’re going back to where it all started,” he says. “Back to the Matrix.” Then the title: The Matrix, which fades away, and then Resurrections.

You very much get the sense that everything that happened before with Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus is happening again, just with minor changes. Characters fated to live the same stories over and over again. Or… something like that. We don’t really know. But damned if it didn’t look as big and action-packed as we’ve come to expect.

Well, this certainly sounds a lot like a Matrix movie! It’s hard to believe that the original Matrix came out in 1999—I’m showing my age here, but it was such a massive phenomenon that shifted the paradigm of movie-making, and it still feels as part of popular culture as ever. There’s a whole cottage industry dedicated to examining the philosophy and theories of the films. The movies did vital things like universalize a trans experience for many watching and serve as a “trans metaphor,” to quote Lilly Wachowski. There were also some unsavory unintentional cultural side effects. As Emily VanDerWerff wrote for Vox on the 20th anniversary of the first movie:

But everything about it that replicates what the trans experience is like prior to coming out — and, thus, made it so appealing to trans viewers — simultaneously tapped into some other zeitgeist entirely and became a weapon of some of the worst people on the internet.

These worst internet people seized upon the concept of “taking the red pill” and co-opted its usage via groups with misogynistic and/or conservative and/or conspiratorial agendas, though this did lead to one of the best Twitter interactions of all time:

Fuck both of you

— Lilly Wachowski (@lilly_wachowski) May 17, 2020

It’s exciting that Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are back for this go-round—if everything in Hollywood must be revived, at least we get to see Neo and Trinity together again. The new film also stars actors we love to watch like Jada Pinkett Smith, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, and Jonathan Groff. And I imagine that the action scenes are going to be next-level.

We now live more technologically-based lives than even The Matrix could have predicted, and The Matrix Revolutions came out back in 2003. I for one can’t wait to hear what Lana Wachowski has to say about our world today through the prism of Neo’s story.

Resurrections will return us to bullet-time on December 22nd, 2021.

(via io9, image: Warner Bros.)

Here are some other things we saw today:

• Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri, “sustained minor injuries” during a stunt for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. (via Variety)
• “How Sony Tarnished Jeopardy! and Alex Trebek’s Legacy” (via Vulture)
• Two Congressmen took an unauthorized trip to Kabul, Afghanistan in the midst of ongoing evacuations. (via Washington Post)
• Game of Thrones’ Jacob Anderson, who played Grey Worm, has been cast as Louis in the TV adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. (via Screenrant)
• Info on Magic: The Gathering’s Lord of the Rings crossover. Sounds like a match made in card heaven. (via Polygon)

Let me clear my throat…

THE CHANGELING IS COMING TO @AppleTV

Starring LaKeith Stanfield.

Directed by @melinamatsoukas

Created/Written by @MissMarcel

And with me joyfully collaborating closely throughout.

I could not be happier. This is going to be special. https://t.co/WTJPiqdVm0

— Victor LaValle (@victorlavalle) August 25, 2021

• And finally:

Spotted on Melrose!.. send me your sightings .. these creeps .. must be found. 🦇 pic.twitter.com/nDLCpQqFpo

— Harvey Guillén (@HARVEYGUILLEN) August 25, 2021

What did you see out there today?

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!  

 —The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Many of the “first wave” Arrowverse shows have come to an end, like Arrow, and soon, Supergirl. But still running along (no pun intended) is The Flash. And next season is set to start with quite a bang. Just announced via Deadline, it appears season eight will open with a special five-part event this November. One that sees many returning faces from different Arrowverse series. “Armageddon” will center on yet another alien invasion that needs Earth’s greatest heroes united to stop it.

Lending a hand to Team Flash are Javicia Leslie as Batwoman; Brandon Routh as the Atom; Cress Williams as Black Lightning; Chyler Leigh as Sentinel; Kat McNamara as Mia Queen; and Osric Chau as Ryan Choi. Tom Cavanagh and Neal McDonough will return as enemies Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash and Damien Darhk, respectively. This will be Cress Williams’ first time returning to the role since Black Lightning ended. It will also be the first post-Supergirl appearance from Chyler Leigh.

CW / Warner Bros. Television 

Notably absent from this crossover of sorts is anyone from Superman and Lois. Although it technically takes place within the Arrowverse, so far, that series has only made one reference to the rest of the CW superhero universe. Here’s hoping the Man of Steel surprises viewers and shows up to help out.

In a statement, Flash EP Eric Wallace said “Simply put, these are going to be some of the most emotional Flash episodes ever. Plus, there are some truly epic moments and huge surprises that await our fans. And we’re doing them on a scale that’s bigger and bolder than our traditional Flash episodes. So yes, “Armageddon” is a lot more than just another graphic novel storyline. It’s going to be a true event for Flash and Arrowverse fans, old and new.”

“Armageddon” will be the first Arrowverse crossover since 2019’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Flash season eight begins on November 16 at 8 p.m.

The post THE FLASH Season 8 to Kick Off with 5-Part Arrowverse Event appeared first on Nerdist.

For some reason we don’t understand, celebrities have been volunteering information about how often they do – or don’t – clean themselves and their families. And in other news, Victoria and Mikkel talk about the Jeopardy! drama going on behind the scenes as they work on finding a new host and much more!

Hear about that and more on This Week in Nerd News.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher

Check out other episodes of TWINN here.

Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram!

The post TWINN: Questionable Celebrity Cleanliness appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.