Category Archives: Proud Boys

Kathryn Vargas wasnt sure whether she would take her kids to the Pride Month Family Storytime event on Saturday at a public library in McKinney, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas.

The straight mom of three young boys, who lives in nearby Plano, wants to raise her children to be open-minded and accepting, but having seen similar Pride events become targets for confrontation around the country she had some reservations. There was already chatter of protesters showing up to this event, and with her firefighter husband at work, it would just be her with the kids.

Still, she felt compelled.

We decided that sometimes being an ally is just showing up, Vargas said. And so we decided that we would still show up and that it was important.

But when she arrived at the Roy and Helen Hall Library, she was greeted by an unexpected sight: a huge group of counterprotesters had completely outnumbered the right-wing demonstrators.

Wearing Pride rainbows and carrying signs to support the library and the LGBTQ community, these counterprotesters were on a mission to drown out the hate and make those attending feel welcome.

The word went out on the internetand people showed up, said Michael Phillips, a historian and senior research fellow at Southern Methodist University, who was among the counterprotesters. It was pretty well organized to make sure that the families bringing their children to this event weren't harassed, werent harangued basically to form a human shield.

We formed a corridor that families could pass through, Phillips added.

Courtesy of Michael Phillips

As an unusual Pride Month draws to an end, LGBTQ activists around the country have been disturbed by an increase in political and legislative attacks on the community, which have in turn compelled some on the far right to attend Pride events in order to intimidate people or cause mayhem.

On June 12, Idaho police arrested 31 white nationalists including seven from Texas in Coeur d'Alene, accusing them of seeking to disrupt a Pride event in a city park. On the same day in Alameda County, California, Proud Boys interrupted a Drag Queen Story Hour at a Bay Area library, shouting anti-gay and anti-transgender slurs. One of the men was wearing a T-shirt with an image of an AR-15 and the text "Kill your local pedophile." And just this weekend in Sparks, Nevada, Proud Boys also turned out to protest at a Drag Queen Story Hour event at a library on Sunday. Police were on scene, but had reportedly left by the time one of the men approached the library while carrying a gun, sending counterprotesters fleeing inside.

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Texas has been a hotbed for much of the anti-gay sentiment. In February, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state workers to investigate families who provide gender-affirming care for their trans children as potential child abusers however, this has been temporarily blocked by state courts. Abbott has also said he intends to prioritize a Texas version of Floridas Dont Say Gay bill, which would restrict mentions of LGBTQ topics in classrooms. Just this month, Abbotts Republican Party in Texas inserted anti-gay language into their official platform, calling homosexuality an abnormal lifestyle choice and opposing any special legal status for LGBTQ people or penalties for people who oppose the community, among other things.

We are the Republican Party of Texas, not the Westboro Baptist Church, one Republican delegate who opposed the changes told the crowd before he was met with boos.

Multiple LGBTQ events have also been targeted in the Dallas area by right-wing extremists, as Salon reported last week. These have included a family drag show at a local gay bar, an adults-only drag brunch, and a city council hearing that had passed a proclamation in support of Pride Month. A couple in McKinney have also called on school officials to remove almost 300 books they believe do not promote a healthy lifestyle.

Saturdays library event in McKinney came one day after another Pride event at a local clothing store was also threatened by protesters.

Denise Lessard, a spokesperson for the city of McKinney, told BuzzFeed News the Pride Month Storytime was in keeping with other library events that celebrate the communitys diversity. In honor of Pride Month each year, we display age-appropriate literature throughout the library and host programming that celebrates our LGBTQIA+ community, Lessard said. Our programs are clearly marketed so residents can choose what activities they want to attend. All are welcome.

Patrick Cloutier, a McKinney City council member at large, told BuzzFeed News he had apprehensions about the books that would be read at the event, so had visited the library on Friday to read them for himself. Objecting to mentions of the words queer and drag queen, he said he let other council members know he was concerned and wouldnt want his 2-year-old granddaughter exposed to such things.

But attending himself on Saturday, Cloutier said he was pleasantly surprised. The event was held in a room that wouldnt disturb other patrons who hadnt bought tickets or who didnt want to hear the readings. And the woman who read the books who was not a drag performer was engaging and made the children smile, Cloutier said.

I was appreciative that people who were voluntarily there got what they wanted and what they were looking for, Cloutier said. The way she engaged the kids and the words that came out of her mouth, I saw nothing wrong with when I was in there.

But outside, protesters had gathered. Initially, there had been a mix of people wearing Trump gear or religious insignia. Soon, suspected members of the Proud Boys and Three Percenters hate groups showed up, some armed and wearing body armor, others wearing face coverings from rest stop chain Buc-ee's that has become part of the Proud Boys uniform.

It was clear that they were there to intimidate, to scare, said Jesse Ringness, a documentary journalist in nearby Frisco who is running for state office as a Democrat.

Sisters Josie and Mallie, who asked that their last names not be published out of fear they might be targeted, said the militia members soon began making crude and hateful comments in attempts to agitate the counterprotesters.

They started kind of saying different things, calling us groomers, pedophiles. They were fat-shaming people, they were calling other women whores and just horrible things, Josie said. You could tell that they wanted to incite some type of violence. They just wanted to make us get angry so they could have something to use against us.

I was just thinking about how scared little tiny kids would be seeing masked people with big vests on wearing black, Mallie said. Like, that would be scary, just walking out in the library.

Four counterprotesters who spoke with BuzzFeed News said they purposefully tried not to pay any heed to the rhetoric, for fear of inflaming the situation. Instead, their goal was to try to counteract the hate with love.

When the kids started walking out from Pride storytime, they were booing them and kind of yelling different comments at them. So we just kind of cheered louder, Josie said. And people walked in front of the kids so they wouldn't see them.

It wasn't about fighting the other side. It wasn't about getting some viral clip. It was 100% about supporting those that were there for a free public event, Ringness said. And it's really disheartening to see a public library youth event for families drawing out armed militiamen. What did those armed militiamen expect to do with guns and pepper spray? I don't understand.

Given the expected protesters, officers were on hand to supervise, said McKinney Police Department spokesperson Carla Marion Reeves: We were not called to the scene, but were nearby, monitoring and keeping an eye on things to make sure the event was peaceful.

There were no arrests, but police issued one citation for assault by contact to someone who pushed another person an incident that appeared to be caught on camera and shared by Steven Monacelli, who first reported on the protests on Twitter.

Vargas, the mom who took her sons to the event, said she had felt uneasy by the right-wing protesters. Her oldest son had wanted to explore the library during the storytime event, but she insisted that he stay close in case LGBTQ opponents crashed the event.

There's nothing that can quite prepare you for just a deeply unsettling feeling of seeing armed hate groups close to your small brown children, Vargas said.

But when her family exited the event, any hateful chants were drowned out by cheers from LGBTQ supporters. One person even walked them to their car while blocking out hateful signs using an umbrella. Vargas said she felt extremely grateful, but also heartbroken that LGBTQ people had to protect an event that was designed to celebrate them.

There were protesters there that held up signs about protecting kids, but it was members of the LGBTQ community and allies that shielded my brown boys from these hate groups, Vargas said. They were the actual targets on Saturday. And yet, they absolutely would not flinch when hatred stared at them.

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Proud Boys Showed Up To A Pride Month Library Event But Were Met With A ...

Twice in two weeks, at libraries in North Carolina and in California, members of the Proud Boys have crashed Pride Month events for kids in angry pursuit of storytellers in large wigs and very high heels.

"Bring out the drag queens!" witnesses say members of the Cape Fear chapter of the extremist group chanted on Tuesday, outside a locked reading-room door at a library three miles south of Wilmington, North Carolina as a half-dozen frightened preschoolers and their parents listened inside.

"It wasn't even a drag queen event," Emily Kaufman of the Anti-Defamation League told Insider. "It was Pride Storytime, and they were reading 'Heather has two Mommies' and 'Daddy & Dada.'"

No matter.

Even the rumor of Drag Queen Story Hour was enough for seven or eight men in Proud Boys regalia to try to enter the room and to lead other demonstrators in demanding to "see the drag queen," according to WHQR.

The New York City-based program brings drag queens to schools, libraries, and bookstores around the country, to read to kids in a celebration of books and diversity.

"During storytime we entered the library to ensure the children were not subject to a drag queen or age-inappropriate behavior from the staff," the "Official Cape Fear Proud Boys" posted later on Tuesday, on Telegram.

"If this is happening in your town let them know you're watching."

It was the second incident in as many weeks.

On June 11, a Saturday, some 10 men in Proud Boys regalia barged into a reading room of a library in San Lorenzo, California, where Bay Area drag queen Panda Dulce was reading to children.

The men made white power hand gestures and shouted "Who brought the tranny?" and "It's a groomer. It's a pedophile," Dulce told ABC.

"One of the Proud Boys at the scene wore a T-shirt displaying an image of an assault rifle," said Kaufman. "Alongside the phrase, 'Kill Your Local Pedophile.'"

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office has opened a hate crimes investigation into the incident, NBC News reported.

"The Proud Boys are incredibly transphobic," Kaufman said of the group, which has some 119 chapters in 46 states recognized by its national organization.

"But this month, many chapters have decided to celebrate quote-unquote Western Pride Month instead," said Kaufman.

"Several chapters have committed to posting anti-LGBTQ-plus rhetoric every day during Pride Month," she said.

"This is the most intense rhetoric I've seen from the Proud Boys since I've been monitoring them for the last two years," she added. "It's been so heinous and awful."

So why are the Proud Boys so obsessed with drag queens?

Jonathan Hamilt is the executive director for Drag Queen Story Hour, which has 50 chapters throughout the US and 20 more overseas.

Hamilt thinks the rabid opposition from extremists of all stripes has to do with ignorance and misinformation the very things that his organization strives to abolish through inclusiveness and play.

"We're challenging the patriarchy and challenging the binary. We're challenging societal norms and forced gender roles and stereotypes that have been in our culture literally forever."

As for the Proud Boys themselves, "We're trying not to say their names in interviews or call attention to it because they're getting enough air time," Hamilt said.

"It's Pride Month and we're trying to focus on being proud of who we are and doing our programming," he explained.

"We have a great community that loves us and wants us there. That's always been way greater than any opposition," he added.

And like the extremist group whose name he won't mention, "We are defiantly loud and very organized as well," he said.

"Just with glitter."

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Why Are the Proud Boys so Afraid of Drag Queens?

Lisa Gialdini Schurr| Sarasota Herald-Tribune

A collective sigh of relief was exhaled by many when they read the recent Herald-Tribune article reporting thatSarasota County School Board candidate Robyn Marinelli had finally decided to skip a meet-and-greet eventthat was to be hosted, for her benefit, by local Proud Boy James Hoeland his wife Kathy.

But if you believeMarinelli deserves a standing ovation for doing the right thing, you may want to sit back down.Marinelli has continued to claim that she did not know Proud Boy Hoel, but that is clearly not the case.

Marinelli met and spoke with Hoel at The Hollow in Venice on Dec.3, 2021, during an event sponsored by Unmask Freedom, a Proud Boy front group. In a video that was livestreamed and publicly posted by Unmask Freedom, Hoel and Marinelli are clearly shown having a one-on-one chat and after their discussion, Marinelli appears to give Hoelher business card.

Hoel was the emcee at the Hollow event, where current School Board Member Karen Rosewas a featured speaker.Roses appearance with the Proud Boys was detailed in a Dec. 28, 2021 Herald-Tribune guest column thatI co-authored. But at that time we were unaware that Marinelli had also attended the event.

Publicly available Florida incorporation records indicate that Hoel and his wife established Unmask Freedom as a nonprofitshortly before the event at The Hollow.The other incorporators were Proud Boy Nicholas Radovich, and his wife, Melissa Radovich. Unmask Freedom was used as a front group for these Proud Boys to hold events and make social media posts.Numerous photos have been publicly postedshowing Hoel and Radovich at various events and protestswhile wearing Proud Boy gear andwaving Proud Boy flags.

Hoel and the Radovichs, along with other Proud Boys and their followers, are frequent disruptors at Sarasota County School Board meetings and they sometimes weartheir Proud Boy gear. During aDecember 2021 SchoolBoardmeeting, Nicholas Radovich directly addressed Board Member Bridget Ziegler and stated the group's support for her. In case anyone is curious, Ziegler has never publicly repudiated the Proud Boys support.

None of these facts are secret; this information is widely available.Unfortunately, what may not be as widely known is how involved the Proud Boys, their affiliated front groupsand their assorted followers have become in local elections, particularly in supporting School Board candidates Ziegler, Marinelli and Tim Enos.

Nor has it been widely reported that the Sarasota County Republican Party, through precinct captains Jim and Sally Nista, were planning to take an active role at the Proud Boy-sponsored event at the Island Organics Caf in Venice.

The Proud Boys have worked through several other front groups over the last six months, as have their wives and supporters. And whenever their cover is blown, they simply move on to another front group.

Lately, they seem to be working through a group called Sarasota Freedom Friends,"which appears to be an unincorporated organization.You may soon find them showing up at your front door or at your church or synagogue handing out campaign literature.

Are Ziegler, Marinelli and Enos as well as Sarasota County's Republican Party willing to accept support and backing from a known hate group like the Proud Boys? Do they support the hatred and oppression that is espoused by the Proud Boys? And, perhaps more importantly, what is it about these candidates and their platforms that the Proud Boys and their front groups find so appealing?

There comes a point in time where wemust draw a line in the sand on this issue.But in addition to drawing thatline,we must also erect a barricade against the toxicrhetoric espoused by the Proud Boys and other hate groups. And that's why the time has come for all of the candidates running for the Sarasota County School Board to loudly and publicly denounce the Proud Boys.

This challenge is not just for the School Board candidatesit also appliesto our localRepublican and Democratic parties. Our community must say it loudly and clearly: Hate has no home in Sarasota County!

Lisa Gialdini Schurr is a retired international tax attorneywho spent 20 yearsliving and working in Russia, Kazakhstan andthe Baltic states.She has resided in Sarasota since 2011.

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Sarasota school board candidates must openly condemn the Proud Boys - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

JEFFERSON COUNTY, W.Va. (DC News Now) Tricia Jackson, a Jefferson County Commissioner, is under fire after a photo surfaced on social media, showing her posing with two Proud Boys.

The Facebook post shows Jackson in a photo with two proud boys who are holding up a white power sign.

Residents in Jefferson County say hate doesnt belong in their community.

These are people who attacked our capital. They attacked our democracy, the very core of what makes us Americans. She should resign, said Ronda Lehman.

The Jefferson County Chapter of the NAACP is calling for her resignation.

She represents the entire county. She has a great responsibility and messing around with one organization is detrimental to our community, said George Rutherford, president of the Jefferson County chapter of the NAACP.

Jackson declined our request for an interview, but in a statement, she says: I have no intention of resigning over what is an innocent photo that was taken at a local establishment at the request of two gentlemen. This is nothing more than a smear campaign by the left and some of the volunteer fire departments to stop the county from restructuring and improving ems service.

Some residents arent buying that saying Jackson is offering that up merely as a distraction.

Not only is she hanging out with insurrectionists, shes hanging out with insurrectionists clearly flashing a white member symbol of pride. That doesnt belong here, doesnt belong in our community.

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NAACP calls for Jefferson County Commissioner Jacksons resignation after posing with Proud Boys - WDVM 25

About two years before D.C. Police Lt. Shane Lamond was suspended, in February 2022, for accusations of improper communication with the right-wing extremist group the Proud Boys, he was accused of time theft, according to information provided to City Paper and confirmed by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Director Carolyn Montagna, Lamonds direct supervisor, was also accused of approving overtime for him, according to information from multiple sources familiar with the allegations, who provided details on the condition that they not be named. These sources also allege that Montagna and Lamond were in a romantic relationship at the time.

Internal Affairs Division Sergeant David Chumbley investigated some, but not all, of these allegations and left several key questions unanswered, according to the sources information. Chumbley, one of the officers involved in a separate complaint around a t-shirt with racist implications, requested that his superiors cancel the inquiry. It is unclear from the information provided to City Paper whether Chumbleys supervisors agreed with his recommendation and what, if any, further investigation occurred.

MPD spokesperson Dustin Sternbeck confirms that MPD opened an investigation and says it is now closed. Sternbeck would not provide any further details. Chief Robert Contee did not respond to an email that requested an interview and contained a list of the details City Paper intended to publish. The department generally does not provide the public with details of personnel matters, which can be embarrassing for individual officers and for the department. Neither Lamond nor Montagna responded to City Papers emails seeking comment.

Contees silence stands in stark contrast to the special access to investigatory details MPD recently gave to the Washington Post. In May, the Post published a detailed account of MPDs search for the person who fired more than 200 rounds at Edmund Burke School and the surrounding area. Post reporter Peter Hermann was granted early and exclusive access to MPDs investigation, according to the article, a move that angered members of the local press corps.

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In June of 2020, four MPD employees noticed an irregularity in the departments timekeeping database with Lamonds overtime. They reported to the internal affairs division that Montagna and Lamond were stealing time, according to the sources information. Montagna is Lamonds supervisor and the civilian director of MPDs Joint Strategic and Tactical Analysis Command Center, a hub of information responsible for providing crime alerts to MPDs command staff and to the public. The center also gathers and analyzes information, including from social media, to assist MPD investigators and coordinates with federal agencies.

The four MPD employees alleged that Montagna entered 99 hours of overtime for Lamondan excessive amount compared to others in his unit, the four employees told MPDs internal affairs division. The four employees also alleged that Lamond and Montagna consistently left work for long periods of time while on duty and that their relationship was common knowledge among command center staffers, according to information from City Papers sources.

The complainants told an internal affairs agent they suspected Montagna had abused her authority by entering Lamonds overtime given their alleged relationship.

Screenshots of MPDs internal timekeeping database, which another source shared with City Paper, indicate that for the pay period ending June 6, 2020, Lamond was paid for 80 hours of regular work, 99.99 hours of overtime, and eight hours of CT or comp time. The screenshots show one other employee with 99.99 hours of overtime, but most others range from 20 to 45 hours.

The timekeeping database tracks which employees enter or alter overtime, and the screenshots provided to City Paper indicate that over the course of five days, from June 3 to 7, Montagna modified Lamonds timesheet 14 times.

About a month after the internal affairs division received the complaints, Chumbley requested the investigation be canceled and that no further action be taken, according to the sources.

In his request, Chumbley described the investigative work he did to arrive at his conclusion. According to sources, Chumbley only interviewed two of the four complainants, who were unable to provide direct evidence to support their allegations of time fraud other than the outsized overtime.

Chumbley then reviewed Lamonds overtime hours and noted that for the pay period in question, Lamond was paid for 87.9 hours of overtime related to the George Floyd protests, 26.6 hours of overtime for callback for intelligence cases, and 11.3 hours of overtime for COVID-19 screening, according to information provided by City Papers source.

Chumbley noted that Lamonds 125.8 overtime hours was consistent with other members of the department who were integral in the response to the George Floyd protests and he found nothing suspicious or irregular, according to the source. He also noted that it is within MPD policy for supervisors to enter subordinates time and attendance.

But nowhere in Chumbleys request to cancel the investigation does he say that he looked into the allegations that Montagna and Lamond are in a romantic relationship or that they regularly disappeared for extended periods of time while on duty, according to the source.

There is also no indication that Chumbley interviewed Lamond or Montagna.

Multiple sources familiar with MPDs internal investigations say that the request to cancel an investigation is unusual, especially without speaking to the accused or interviewing all complainants. Its unclear what steps MPD took after Chumbley passed the case to the assistant chief, whether there was further investigation, or how the case was resolved. MPD will not provide those details. Chumbley did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Lamond is still suspended while hes under investigation by MPD, the FBI, and the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly communicating with former Proud Boys leader Henry Enrique Tarrio. The Post quoted Tarrio saying he communicated with Lamond when the Proud Boys planned to be in D.C. Tarrio told the Post that his contact with Lamond was professional and that Lamond would tell him where counterprotesters were located in order to avoid conflict. But, the Post noted, a night of violent confrontations involving the extremist group in 2020 calls that into question.

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Shane Lamond, MPD Lieutenant Under Investigation For Ties to Proud Boys, Accused of Time Theft Two Years Ago - Washington City Paper

Stephen Colbert has caught the attention of the Proud Boys. The Late Show host was recently named in a statement from a lawyer for January 6 defendant Joseph Biggs, a Proud Boy; the attorney claimed that his client could not receive a fair trial in Washington, D.C., due to the January 6 hearings and increased and unquestionably spectacular 24/7 negative press and media coverageciting Colberts late-night program as a specific example.

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You know, ladies and gentlemen, I do a lot of jokes about these violent fascists, but to hear that even one of them noticed? I feel so seen, Colbert quipped on Wednesday night, breaking into his best misquoted Sally Field impression: You hate me, you really hate me!

Colbert then zeroed in on the Proud Boys leader, whom he described as looking like a worst-case scenario David Cross, adding that he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted in his case. (Biggs has pleaded not guilty.) Some of the folks being featured in the videos in these hearings are not happy about all the publicity, he said, referring to Biggs. By the time he gets out, this Proud Boy is going to be a proud member of the AARP.

Colbert went on to address Biggss attorneys claim that shows like The Late Show and Morning Joe continue to saturate the jury pool of media-obsessive Washington, D.C.

They want to move the trial to some place where the Proud Boys have a better reputation, Colbert said. Like 1930s Berlin.

Of course, after we got this little shout-out, the article says, Newsweek contacted Colberts representatives for comment, Colbert shared, before pretending to answer Newsweeks request for comment: While this is a very high-profile case, in our justice system, the accused is of course innocent until proven guilty. So I want everyone in the potential jury pool to hear me when I say, You are going to jail, you neo-numbnut! And if you dont like it, you can come and get me. My name is Joe Scarborough, and I love coffee! Welcome to the monkey house, brother.

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Stephen Colbert Is Thrilled to Roast the Proud Boys - Vanity Fair

Sedition is extraordinarily difficult to prove.

It's been nearly three decades since federal prosecutors havegotten a conviction on the charge. So, now that the Department of Justice has charged individuals in two far-right organizations with seditious conspiracy in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, it sends a serious message.

To provesedition, prosecutors need to show that the defendants intended to overthrow the government by force. In January, the DOJ charged 11 leaders of the Oath Keepers with doing that, and on June 6 DOJ filed the same charge against five leaders of the Proud Boys.

Since the attack on the Capitol,more than 850 participants in the events of that day have been arrested. But as the months passed following the riot, some Americans grew restless that Attorney General Merrick Garland didn't appear to be going after any big fish connected to the event.

In early January this year, Garland responded by saying the pace of the investigation was by design. The first step, he said, was laying a broad foundation by investigating "overt actors" who can provide leads to other "less overt" ones.

It sounded like more serious charges would be coming soon, and that is exactly what happened. On Jan. 13, DOJ unsealed theindictmentof Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers militia, and 10 of his deputies for their roles in orchestrating the Capitol assault. The indictment charged them with seditious conspiracy, the first time prosecutors had leveled such a charge in 10 years.

Then, on June 6, DOJ showed that it was not done. A federal grand jury returned anindictmentcharging five leaders of the Proud Boys with seditious conspiracy. DOJ said in a statement that the five Proud Boys had "conspired to prevent, hinder, and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote, and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States."

Federal law says that sedition charges may be warranted when two or more people:

Sedition is a serious charge carrying a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. But the task facing prosecutors who hope to gain a conviction is a tough one.

The biggest obstacle is proving that the defendants actually conspired to use force. It is not enough for prosecutors to show that someone advocated the use of force, which is protected by the First Amendment.

The last time the government sought a sedition conviction was 10 years ago when it went after a Christian nationalist militia called Hutaree, whose nine members talked about killing police officers. A judgethrew out the sedition chargesand other serious charges and acquitted seven of the nine defendants. The remaining two defendants pled guilty to standard federal weapons charges and were sentenced to two years of court supervision.

The judge wrote that while the government did prove that the Hutaree had strong anti-government views, it left the court to "guess what defendants intended to do with their animosity."

The goals of the defendants facing sedition charges for their roles in the storming of the Capitol, however, appear far more real.

In its indictment against the Oath Keepers, DOJ says that the defendants:

The June 6 Proud Boys indictment states that the defendants:

On June 9, a Congressional investigation into the events of the Capitol attack will begin. Technically, there is no connection between that investigation, which will be aired on prime-time TV, and DOJ's actions. But certainly, there will be evidence before the House committee and the viewing public that will be tuning in of the role played that day by the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.

Given the historical record, prosecutors may not succeed in putting the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys behind bars for sedition. But when the House committee concludes its investigation in the coming weeks and after the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys stand trial later this year, at least we may have a better understanding of what really happened that day.

There's a reason why prosecutors rarely charge people with sedition: It's hard to prove. Does that mean that prosecutors have strong evidence to bring that charge against two right-wing groups that orchestrated the attack on the Capitol? It might. But will it work?

Meeting with a lawyer can help you understand your options and how to best protect your rights. Visit our attorney directory to find a lawyer near you who can help.

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DOJ Targets Proud Boys, Expanding Its Sedition Probe

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Its been hard, these last couple of weeks, to watch and rewatch the horrifying events of January 6, 2021. As the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol has conducted its televised hearings, they have played video clips of the violence over and over again. No image is more memorableand more disturbingthan that of the wooden gallows Donald Trumps supporters erected on the Capitol lawn as rioters chanted Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! The committee documented that those threats were real. According to an F.B.I. affidavit the panel highlighted on Thursday, a government informant said that members of the far-right militant group the Proud Boys told him they would have killed Pence if given the chance. The rioters on January 6th almost had that chance, coming within forty feet of the Vice-President as he fled to safety.

The malice of those in the crowd toward Pence, the holier-than-thou evangelical Christian who had spent the previous four years as Donald Trumps slavishly loyal sidekick, was remarkable.

If Pence caved were going to drag motherfuckers through the streets, one rioter was captured on video saying. He deserves to burn with the rest of them, another said. A man with a bullhorn agitated the crowd. Mike Pence has betrayed the United States of America, he informed the already agitated mob. Mike Pence has betrayed this President. He finished with a threat and a promise: We will never, ever forget.

The explosive ending of the Trump Presidency has always been a story about the rift between Trump and Pencetwo of the most mismatched figures ever to be thrown into a marriage of political convenience. For four years, Trump had tested and tried his sanctimonious No. 2, but Pence never broke. Not in public, not, as far as we can tell, in private, either. He was famous during the Trump years for doing and saying almost nothing that would make news. When he debated Kamala Harris during the 2020 campaign, his most memorable moment was when a fly landed on his impeccably coiffed white hair and he did not react for the full two minutes that it sat on his head.

But on January 6th, Pence finally did break with Trump, refusing to go along with the Presidents absurd, illegal, and unconstitutional plot to have his Vice-President single-handedly overturn the will of the American people and block Congresss confirmation of Joe Bidens victory. On Thursday, the House committee devoted its hearing to attempting to explain Trumps scheme to pressure Pencewhich unfolded in a series of inflammatory Presidential tweets, angry phone calls, and bizarre White House meetings that were a mix of constitutional-law seminars and live renactments of The Godfather. The committee introduced a new villain to a national television audience: John Eastman, the former law professor who concocted the absurd legal theory that Pence could unilaterally overturn the electiona concocted counterpart to what U.S. District Judge David Carter recently skewered as a coup in search of a legal theory.

If the hearing was designed to eviscerate the professional standing of Eastman, it succeeded blisteringly well. He was shown to be inconsistent, not on the level, and legally and historically shoddy in his work. Greg Jacob, Pences former counsel, testified that Eastman even acknowledged, at one point, that he knew his theory was unconstitutional and would likely be unanimously rejected by the Supreme Courtif it ever got there. The committees biggest reveal of the day was an e-mail from Eastman to Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani, asking for a Presidential pardon for himself. Ive decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works, Eastman wrote. Lawyers who dont think they did anything wrong are not in the habit of asking for pardons. When called for a deposition by the panel, Eastman cited his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination a hundred times, Representative Pete Aguilar of Texas revealed.

But, of course, Americans dont really care about John Eastman. Nor should they. It was President Trump who desperately seized on Eastmans absurd argument that the Vice-President determines the winner of Presidential elections. It was Trump who brought this buffoon into the White House, Trump who demanded that Pence attend repeated meetings with him, and Trump who charged ahead with the plot.

Trump did not care what Eastmans legal theories were. He just wanted him to provide one. His goal was to keep power by whatever means necessary. Once again, the January 6th panel presented compelling evidence that Trump personally orchestrated the campaigninflaming the mob when Pence did not cave in, as Trump apparently expected, after four years of caving in. In a dramatic phone call from the Oval Office on the morning of January 6th, with his family arrayed around him listening, the President berated and castigated his Vice-President. Trump called him a wimp, according to one witness. A former aide to Trumps own daughter Ivanka recalled Ivanka telling her that Trump had called Pence a pussy. When Pence rebuffed him anyway, Trump, a few hours later, tweeted his anger at Pences lack of courageeven as the mob stormed the Capitol. It felt like he was pouring gasoline on the fire, one of his White House officials, Sarah Matthews, testified regarding the tweet.

Purely by coincidence, Im sure, Thursdays hearing took place on the seventh anniversary of the day when Trump kicked off his Presidential campaign with that famous escalator ride down to the lobby of Trump Tower. Soon after the hearing ended, I received a fund-raising e-mail from Trump asking, Do you remember this day 7 years ago? and promising that if I sent him money by 11:59 P.M. I would both get my name on the 2022 Trump Donor Wall and have my gift INCREASED by 600%. (How, exactly, was not clear.) The Trump grift continues.

And that, really, was the bigger point of Thursdays debates about the language of the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and the powers vested in the Vice-Presidency. Trump remains not only an e-mail-fund-raising huckster but also the subject of historical inquiry. He continues to be what the retired federal judge Michael Luttig, a conservative legal icon who advised Pence, called him at Thursdays hearing: a clear and present danger to the nation.

See more here:

What We Learned About Trump, Pence, and the January 6th Mob - The New Yorker

A once-aspiring Proud Boy from Camden County was sentenced Friday to two weeks incarceration for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Lawrence Earl Stackhouse III, 33, of Blackwood, had texted a friend the week before the insurrection asking for an application to join the group. He was wearing a Proud Boys hoodie as he followed the mob past the smashed windows of the Capitol building and through the kicked-in door of House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office.

I ruined my life with my dumb decisions, he told U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell during a court hearing in Washington. I regret getting involved in politics at all. I regret allowing it to fry my brain.

But Howell showed little sympathy and balked at Stackhouses explanation that he had no real interest in the Proud Boys and had only been wearing the organizations regalia because the colors matched his outfit.

That sounds like a bit of a made-up, after-the-fact explanation, she said. Wearing a Proud Boys logo was a choice.

The sentence Howell imposed which also included a three-year term of probation, three months house arrest, and $500 in restitution was less than half of the 45-day jail term that prosecutors had originally sought.

Stackhouse, a former sheet metal worker who lost jobs with government contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin after his arrest, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of illegally parading or demonstrating on Capitol grounds last year.

He is the second of 26 New Jersey defendants to face sentencing for participating in the attack, which threatened the peaceful transition of power, injured scores of officers, caused millions in damage, and has led to more than 820 arrests.

READ MORE: More than 60 Pennsylvanians have been charged in the Capitol riot. A year later, judges are starting to weigh their punishments.

Federal prosecutors have described the Proud Boys, a militant, far-right organization, as one of the primary instigators of the violence that day. Several of the groups top leaders including the president of its Philadelphia chapter, Zachary Rehl have been charged with sedition for the pivotal role they allegedly played that day in riling up the crowd of Trump supporters.

Stackhouse maintains he never followed through on becoming a Proud Boys member, despite the interest hed expressed, and has no interest in joining now.

READ MORE: Scott Perry, Philly Proud Boys, and more: Pa. had a starring role in the first Jan. 6 committee hearing

Still, prosecutors pointed to a chain of text messages eight days before the riot between Stackhouse and a man theyve described as a Proud Boys prospect Michael Gianos, 33, of Marlton.

Stackhouse and Gianos had previously participated in protests together over New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphys pandemic shutdown orders at the Atilis Gym in Bellmawr. And as they made plans to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, Gianos wrote: Were going to be going after Antifa.

Stackhouse replied: Full force Jan. 6 is going to be awesome.

In texts with another charged rioter Rachel Myers, 33, of Port Richmond and an employee of Delilahs Gentlemens Club & Steakhouse in South Philadelphia Stackhouse offered to bring a knife when she said she looked forward to fighting with counterprotesters.

Love it! she said. Love me some PBs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney April Ayers-Perez cited those texts as evidence that Stackhouse went to Washington prepared for violence.

Surveillance footage from inside the Capitol shows that as Stackhouse, Gianos, and Myers entered the building on Jan. 6, they passed rioters brawling with officers and people smashing windows and doors.

With Stackhouse in his Proud Boys hoodie and Myers carrying a Delilahs backpack, they pushed their way inside through the Senate Wing doors and milled about the Rotunda briefly before following a man who had kicked in the door to Pelosis office, where her terrified staff cowered under desks inside.

In text messages afterward, the trio veered between reveling in their participation in the attack and fretting over whether the FBI would soon show up at their doors.

Dont regret one thing, Stackhouse texted on Jan. 7. F the government.

When photos later surfaced online of Myers on Capitol grounds with her Delilahs backpack, he reached out to allay her concerns.

It was Stackhouses coworkers who turned him in. Hed previously been reprimanded at work for expressing support for an unspecified hate group, according to an FBI affidavit filed in his case. Agents said Stackhouse had boasted to coworkers about his participation in the riot.

But as investigators interviewed him upon his arrest last year, he maintained that he and the others had been let into the building by police waving them past barricades and that he had no idea that the mob had forcefully smashed their way inside minutes before he arrived a claim later disproved by video from the scene.

He created this picture of a rosy, peaceful protest and overzealous police officers, and that couldnt be further from the truth, Ayers-Perez said in court Friday. I dont believe [he has] remorse. I dont believe [hes] accepting responsibility.

Stackhouses attorney, Ubong E. Akpan, maintained that her client had been misled. Hed traveled to Washington, she said, genuinely believing that Vice President Mike Pence could overturn the 2020 election results, and that public pressure in the form of the crowds in the Capitol was part of that process.

She noted that since his arrest, hes voluntarily sat for interviews with the FBI and the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

Mr. Stackhouse is not a villain, she said. Hes a young man who has a family who loves him, who cares deeply for him. Its important to know hes not a lone wolf waiting in the wings in the bushes to attack any members of Congress.

Investigators have charged Gianos and Myers separately. Both have entered not guilty pleas and are awaiting trial.

For his part, Stackhouse said hes ready to put the experience behind him.

I never fully understood what I was getting myself into, he told Howell. I went along with the flow, and it screwed me.

See the rest here:

Aspiring Camden County Proud Boy sentenced to two weeks behind bars for role in Capitol riot - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Key Points

Video Backgrounder

Background

The Proud Boys represent an unconventional strain of American right-wing extremism. While the group can be described as violent, nationalistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and misogynistic, its members represent a range of ethnic backgrounds, and its leaders vehemently protest any allegations of racism. Their founder, Gavin McInnes, went so far as to file a defamation lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center when the SPLC designated the Proud Boys a hate group.

In McInnes own words, the Proud Boys are a pro-western fraternity, essentially a drinking club dedicated to male bonding, socializing and the celebration all things related to western culture. In reality, the Proud Boys bear many of the hallmarks of a gang, and its members have taken part in multiple acts of brutal violence and intimidation. While the Proud Boys insist that they only act in self-defense, several incidents including one in which two members of the group were convicted of attempted gang assault, attempted assault and riot belie their self-professed peaceful nature. Indeed, many members have criminal records for violent behavior and the organization actively pursues violence against their perceived enemies.

During the last three years, the Proud Boys have established themselves as a dominant force withinthe alt lite. Easily recognizable, thanks to their black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirts and red Make America Great Again baseball caps, members are regulars at far-right demonstrations and Trump rallies. After several years of forging alliances with members of the Republican political establishment, the Proud Boys have carved out a niche for themselves as both a right-wing fight club and a volunteer security force for the GOP. Despite their associations with mainstream politicians, Proud Boys actions and statements repeatedly land them in the company of white supremacists and right-wing extremists. Jason Kessler, the primary organizer of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, is a former Proud Boy. Several members attended the violent August 12, 2017 demonstration that ended in the death of counter-protestor Heather Heyer.

During an October 2018 brawl outside the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan, for which two Proud Boys members were convicted and sentenced to substantial prison terms, and seven others pled guilty, the Proud Boys were joined by the 211 Bootboys, an ultra-nationalist and violent skinhead gang based in New York City. In October 2019, members of the Denver chapter of the Proud Boys marched with members of Patriot Front and former members of the now-defunctneo-Nazi group Traditionalist Worker Party. These relationships show the Proud Boys to be less a pro-western drinking club and more an extreme, right-wing gang. Ideologically, members subscribe to a scattershot array of libertarian and nationalist tropes, referring to themselves as anti-communist and anti-political correctness, but in favor of free speech and free markets.

History

The Proud Boys was formed in 2016 by VICE Media co-founder, Gavin McInnes. In an op-ed in the far-right outlet Takis Magazinenotorious for its regular contributors, which included white supremacist Jared TaylorMcInnes announced the foundation of the group, describing its members as Western chauvinists who refuse to apologise [sic] for creating the modern world, and who long for the days when girls were girls and men were men. According to McInnes, the Proud Boys, whose name is taken from a song in the musical Aladdin, are a response and opposition to politically correct culture.

McInnes, whose VICE magazine built its reputation on publishing juvenile and often offensive material, had been trying to establish himself for years as a professional provocateur, making wildly racist statements and claiming it was all ironic, or tongue-in-cheek. In 2002, he said, We seem really racist and homophobic because we hang around with fags and niggers so much. It just becomes part of our vernacular.

At the same time, McInnes was becoming increasingly overt in his xenophobia and racism, telling the New York Times in 2003 that, I love being white and I think it's something to be very proud of. I don't want our culture diluted. We need to close the borders now and let everyone assimilate to a Western, white, English-speaking way of life.

According to McInnes plan, the roughly 1,000 Proud Boys would be organized into chapters nationwide. Membership would be divided into ranks from one to four.

To attain level one, an initiate must publicly state: I am a proud Western chauvinist, I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.

To reach level two, the initiate must endure a beating by his comrades while reciting the names of five breakfast cereals. This is ostensibly to demonstrate adrenaline control; leaked online videos show the ritual to be far less violent than what McInnes described. Initiates are told to limit masturbation to once per month. The idea behind this ban -- that porn is making men weak and keeping them from forming real relationships with women -- is common throughout the right-wing extremist movement. In his op-ed, McInnes wrote: Though sexual intercourse is encouraged, Proud Boys have an endgame and it is to settle down and have kids. They have absolutely no respect for feminists but venerate the housewife so much, they are actually becoming quite popular with women.

To achieve the third level, an initiate must get a Proud Boys tattoo. Common variations are Proud Boy, POYB (acronym for Proud of Your Boy) and Uhuru, a Swahili word for freedom that the Proud Boys have appropriated as their battle cry.

Finally, the fourth level, which McInnes did not describe in the foundational document, is an honorary degree awarded for a material sacrifice or service by a brother. McInnes said in an interview that the fourth degree is awarded for a major fight for the cause. You get beat up, kick the crap out of an antifa," but he later backpedaled, saying it obviously doesnt mean you go to someones house or even pick a fight with one at a rally. Fourth degree is a consolation prize for being thrust into a shitty situation and surviving.

In October 2018, as law enforcement sought members of the Proud Boys for their role in the fight outside the Metropolitan Republican Club, Proud Boys leadership released a clarified set of bylaws that seemed to contradict their prior, violent rhetoric. The new language reads: Any requirement that a brother commit a violent or illegal act as a condition precedent to receiving a fourth degree is, by this bylaw, abolished.

In early 2019, before Proud Boys John Kinsman and Maxwell Hare were convicted for their role in the 2018 fight, McInnes announced that he would no longer be formally involved with the Proud Boys. Leadership was assumed briefly by disgraced Texas attorney, Jason van Dyke, before he was replaced by Enrique Tarrio, a Cuban-American from Miami. Tarrio, the current chairman, is also running for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020.

2020 was a significant year for the Proud Boys. They solidified their status as the most visible, and most active right-wing extremist group in the country. As the nation grappled with the pandemic, members of the Proud boys became a regular sight at anti-lockdown protests, using the demonstrations not only to raise their profile, but as recruitment opportunities. The group is not unique in this sense Boogaloo bois and militia members were also frequent participants at these rallies. Another key factor in the Proud Boys 2020 activity was their embrace of the #Saveourchildren campaign, alongside QAnon adherents. The new links with QAnon allowed Proud Boys access to untapped segments of the pro-Trump extremist movement.

Events held in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, allowed the Proud Boys to brand themselves as law and order counterpoint to Black Lives Matter protesters, although the Proud Boys themselves generally precipitated the most egregious acts of violence and intimidation against protesters. This dynamic produced some of the most brutal clashes between Proud Boys and their adversaries, particularly in Portland, Oregon which saw over 100 days of continuous unrest. There were violent and armed clashes on August 22, and a MAGA convoy on August 29 led to the death of Aaron Jay Danielson, a member of right-wing group Patriot Prayer, a frequent ally of the Proud Boys. On September 26, close to 500 Proud Boys gathered in a Park in Portland, demanding justice for Danielson. Apart from a few incidents, that event was largely peaceful.

Proud Boys profile was given an additional boost when President Trump, in his September 29 debate against Joe Biden, instructed the Proud Boys to stand back, and stand by. Emboldened by the attention from the President, the Proud Boys rallied for Trump twice in Washington, D.C. following his election loss. The first rally took place on November 14, and the second on December 12, which ended with four members of the Proud Boys suffering stab wounds from a brawl. During that same rally, Proud Boys members allegedly set fire to a BLM banner they stole from Asbury United Methodist Church, a historically Black church. Proud Boys leader, Enrique Tarrio, took responsibility for the incident and was later charged with destruction of property. He was arrested, carrying two extended gun magazines, on the eve of the January 6, 2021 rally that led to the storming of the U.S. Capitol. As a condition if his release, a judge barred Tarrio from attending the January 6 protest.

Violence

Violence has been a key component of the Proud Boys since the groups creation.

On August 22, 2020, members of the Proud Boys fought with counter-protestors in Portland, Oregon. This clash between right-wing and left-wing activists was one of manyin Portland and other American cities throughout the summer, and Proud Boys had been a fixture at most of them.

Ahead of the August 22 brawl, one prominent member of the group, Tusitala Tiny Toese, who is barred from taking part in any protest in Portland as a condition of his probation following his sentencing for assault, explained that the Proud Boys were in the streets because they werepissed off and didnt want to see this country burn.This is part of a trend of far right vigilantism where Proud Boys self-deputize in order to assist law enforcement. Armed with bear mace, clubs, paintball guns and in the case of one Proud Boys member,an actual gun, the Proud Boys engaged in multiple acts of violence against counter-protestors and members of the media. One journalist suffered a broken finger when Proud Boys memberTravis Taylor allegedly attacked him with a club.

Patriot Prayer, frequent Proud Boys collaborators, organized another protest that turned violent, on August 15, 2020. The event was attended by Proud Boys, including Alan Swinney, who would later brandish a revolverat the August 22 protest, and who came to the August 15 eventarmed with a paintball gun,which he used on counter-protestors.One person was injured after being hit with a paintball pellet, although it is unknown if Swinney was the shooter. At least two gunshots were reported during the protest; the shooter remaining unknown. One day earlier, Proud Boys clashed with counter-protestors in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

No members of the Proud Boys were arrested in the aftermath of these protests although a Multnomah County judge issued a new warrant for Tusitala Toese following his appearance at the August 22 protest.

McInnes has repeatedly advocated brutal tactics when dealing with the Proud Boys sworn enemies -- anti-fascist counter protestors, otherwise known as antifa -- and leaked chats from social messaging app Telegram reveal a clear pattern of inciting violence. In a June 2016 episode of the Gavin McInnes Show, McInnes warned his enemies, We will kill you. Thats the Proud Boys in a nutshell. We will kill you.

And yet, the groups leaders have repeatedly attempted to distance themselves from violence, both threatened and actual. In the aftermath of the 2018 brawl in Manhattan, McInnes stated in an interview with NewsmaxTV that he does not control these guys and described himself as the founder, not the leader. Similarly, Tarrio has repeatedly insisted that the Proud Boys organization is nonviolent.

Again, real world events belie the claims made by various Proud Boys leaders. Not only have there been several instances where Proud Boys have engaged in unprovoked violence, their social media conversations also demonstrate how inciting violence and responding to small slights with brutal force is key to the Proud Boys strategy. In fact, while the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights (FOAK) was formed to serve as a tactical defense arm (italics ours) of the Proud Boys, its leader, Kyle Chapman AKA Based Stickman, is a violent felon who has repeatedly encouraged violence against anti-fascist activists, and whose persona stems from his history of threatening counter-protestors with a heavy iron stick. Similarly, Proud Boys and their allies purposefully organize and act in a manner that will all but guarantee violence. In advance of the August 2019 End Domestic Terrorism rally in Portland, Oregon, organizer and outspoken Proud Boys ally, Joe Biggs, posted videos of himself holding a spiked baseball bat with the words Make America Great Again emblazoned on it, telling the camera that Were going to put this to good use. He also posed wearing t-shirts reading, Im Just Here for the Violence and Death to Antifa.

Screen shots of conversations on Telegram reveal how members of the Proud Boys consider any provocation to be a direct assault that legitimizes any use of force as acceptable retaliation. In advance of an April 2019 rally in Rhode Island, a poster wrote, If any contact is made with you, thats assault. If they take your hat, spray you with silly string, spit, push Its assault. We need to have all our guys there before we retaliate though if we can. The cops arent going to let us fight long. We need to inflict as much damage as possible in the time we have. In the same chat room, a Proud Boy member using the name Jason Cardona posed with a hatchet, writing, Group, meet Kindness. Later he posed with a large knife and wrote, If they want to meet wisdom all they have to do is ask. Poster Col. Kish wrote, Its a prior service Marines [sic] to get out and continue beating the fuck out of communists, semper Fi ooh ra.

At the rally in Rhode Island, among others, there have been instances of Proud Boys engaging in unprovoked attacks, as well as groups of Proud Boys attacking single counter-protestors.

In January 2020, Proud Boy member, Tusitala Tiny Toese, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge for an attack on a man in Portland. Fellow Proud BoyDonovon Flippohad earlier pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault for the same incident.

In August, 2019, former Patriot Prayer member and current Proud Boy member, Russell Schultz, along with five others, was indicted for rioting following a fight outside the Cider Riot bar in Portland.

On January 6, 2019, self-proclaimed Proud Boy Buckey Wolfe allegedly murdered his brother with a samurai-style sword, claiming that God told me he was a lizard. The Proud Boys released a statement saying that Wolfe had never been approved as a member, but according to the Daily Beast, Buckeys Facebook profile included pictures of him with other members of the group. At the time of the murder, Buckey reportedly subscribed to the QAnon conspiracy theory. Prosecutors say that Buckey demonstratedsigns of mental illness.

Links to the political mainstream

On February 21, 2018, a new video appeared on the Proud Boys YouTube channel, showing Roger Stone, convicted felon and longtime advisor to President Trump, staring into the camera and reciting the Proud Boys initiation: Hi. Im Roger Stone. Im a western chauvinist, and I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world. Stone has had a long relationship with the Proud Boys, posing in countless pictures with various members, appearing in videos, receiving support from the group during his 2019 trial and even using them as private security at events. But Stone is not the only link between the Proud Boys and the political establishment.

After Gavin McInnes speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club in 2018, conservative commentator Ann Coulter tweeted, Get a Proud Boys wristband to defend the men who defend you. Several Metropolitan Republican Club members defended the decision to host the Proud Boys leader, and Alan Bialeck, a Club board member, told BuzzFeed News that he believes McInnes was merely expressing his right to free speech.

In October 2019, Donald Trump, Jr. posed for a photo with Proud Boy member Luke Rohlfing. It is unclear whether Trump Jr. was aware of Rohlfings political views, but the photo is part of a long-term Proud Boys strategy: posting alongside high-level Republicans in hopes of gaining legitimacy.

Both U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and then-FloridaGov. Rick Scott have been photographed alongside Proud Boys, as have U.S. Reps Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25) and Devin Nunes (CA-22).

Sen. Cruz took his support a step farther, backing a non-binding resolution that would have defined anti-fascist activists as domestic terrorists after Enrique Tarrio launched a petition in favor of the bill. Even President Trump took notice and tweeted that Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.

The Proud Boys have also been embraced by a number of Fox News hosts; McInnes has appeared on Sean Hannitys Fox News program more than 24 times, and Tucker Carlson has appeared on McInnes show.

Racism:

While the Proud Boys often publicly denounce white supremacy, their activity has attracted white supremacists who share the groups opposition to progressive politics and proclivity for violence. The Proud Boys participated in the 2017 protests at the University of California-Berkeley, alongside a variety of white supremacist groups, including Rise Above Movement (R.A.M),Identity Evropa (now the American Identity Movement, or AIM) and theTraditionalist Worker Party (TWP).Similarly, members of Identity Evropa/AIM and TWP have joined Proud Boys and fellow right-wing group Patriot Prayer events in Portland. One man, wearing a patch for the Proud Boys-associated Fraternal Order of Alt Knights (FOAK), attended the October 2017 neo-Nazi White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee. During the rally, he taunted the counter-protesters by destroying an antifa flag. Members of the Proud Boys also attended the violent August 2017 Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. They later circulated an image of themselves in a celebratory pose with a flag they captured from antifa. In October 2018, Proud Boys posed with members of the 211 Bootboys, an ultranationalist skinhead group, after McInnes speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club in New York City.

McInnes also has a long history with racism not confined to his repeated use of the N-word. He once called African-American actress Jada Pinkett Smith that monkey actress, and on an episode of the Gavin McInnes Show on Compound Media he said that Were the new n***ers. MAGA is the new black." McInnes declared on March 8, 2017, If you like Trump, you are a black man in 1945 trying to have water at a liberal fountain.

Misogyny:

The Proud Boys claim that they venerate the housewife, but McInnes has said that women are lazy and less ambitious than men, and that the pay gap between women and men is due to the fact a woman would rather go to [her] daughters piano recital than work. He has said that women are magical and that birth is a magical thing, and that the U.S. should have enforced monogamy because women are colostomy bags for various strangers semen when they have sex outside of marriage. He has described feminism as a cancer that makes women ugly. Joe Biggs, a frequent Proud Boys rally-planning partner, close friend of Enrique Tarrio and former InfoWars contributor, has a long history of explicit misogyny and support for rape.

Islamophobia:

Within the Proud Boys creed The West is the Best lies an implicit anti-Eastern bias common among right-wing extremists and white supremacists. McInnes has called the idea of a Muslim American president insane and compared it to electing a German president in 1942 in America. In a talk show on Fox News, he said there was a huge problem with inbreeding within the Muslim community, and alleged that they [Muslims] hate all non-Muslims. There are also close ties between the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio in particular, and virulent anti-Islam activist, Laura Loomer.

Anti-Semitism:

Although McInneshas decried racism and anti-Semitism, his past statements tell a different story.Hehas posted videos of himself giving the Nazi salute and repeatedly saying Heil Hitler. He was accused of anti-Semitism in March 2017 when he posted a video on Rebel Media called Ten Things I Hate about Jews, which was later retitled Ten Things I HateAboutIsrael.

McInnes has made a number of contradictory statements about Zionism. Prior to his spring 2017 trip to Israel, McInnes appeared in a Rebel Media video in which he asked people to crowdfund his trip to Israel so he could see what the country was like for himself; however, in that same video, he referenced both The Culture of Critique, by white supremacist Kevin MacDonald, and David Dukes book Jewish Supremacism. It was during this trip that McInnes appears to have had somewhat of an anti-Semitic awakening. On his show on March 8, 2017, McInnes muses that Jews were somehow responsible for World War II because the Treaty of Versailles, wasnt that disproportionately influenced by Jewish intellectuals? He also defended Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis, saying, Like at one point, the tour guide goes, You know, and there are people who think that this didnt happen. And I felt myself defending the super-far-right Nazis, just because I was sick of so much brainwashing. AndI felt like going, Well, they never said it didnt happen. What theyre saying is that it was much less than six million and that they starved to death and they werent gassed. Then he finishes his train of thought with some thoughts about Jews obsession with the Holocaust. God, theyre so obsessed with the Holocaust. I dont know if its healthy to dwell.

At another point McInnes said: Jews: If you dont want to get people mad, dont be annoying.

Transphobia:

In 2014, McInnes wrote a controversial article for the blog Thought Catalog titled, Transphobia is Perfectly Natural, which included the passage, Havent you seen all the totally functional, happily married, normal trannies walking around? They arent all dead, you knowTheyre non-heteronormative. In fact, the only thing more normal than castrating yourself and taking tons of hormones to grow tits is chopping them off.

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Proud Boys | ADL