With Trump telling Proud Boys to "Stand back and stand by," I& #39;ll explain how they are an umbrella for violent street brawlers, neo-Nazis, and white nationalists. This thread is for those unfamiliar w/ PBs, those who want more info, and journos who need receipts for PB extremism.
Also from 2018 is this profile by Emily Gorcenski, an excellent anti-fascist researcher. She wrote for Political Research Associates, which does serious and rigorous investigative reporting and research on the right and far-right extremism. https://www.politicalresearch.org/2019/02/28/proud-boys">https://www.politicalresearch.org/2019/02/2...
Brendan O& #39;Connor describes the Proud Boys as the "militant wing of the Republican Party." The Proud Boys have been enmeshed w/ GOP for a couple of years despite researchers saying they are a violent gang tied to Neo-Nazis and white nationalists. https://thebaffler.com/latest/boys-to-men-oconnor">https://thebaffler.com/latest/bo...
The SPLC notes the Proud Boys play a duplicitous rhetorical game "rejecting white nationalism and, in particular, the term “alt-right” while espousing some of its central tenets" like Islamophobia.
Part of Proud Boys double game is to distance itself from members and even founder McInnes when violence and extremism becomes a liability. But this happens constantly and reporters need to realize PB talk of being peaceful is facade for violence and white nationalism.
McInnes said he quit Proud Boys in 2018 after the FBI told Washington state law enforcement it classified the PB as "an extremist group with ties to white nationalism." McInnes stepped down weeks after a violent PB gang attack caught on film in NYC. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/22/proud-boys-founder-gavin-mcinnes-quits-far-right-group">https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...
A 3rd element in Proud Boys double game is using Black and brown faces like Enrique Tarrio as cover for white nationalism. Except multiracial white supremacy is real. It& #39;s no different than Christian Right women who advocate for patriarchy and misogyny. https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-young-men-of-color-are-joining-white-supremacist-groups">https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-young...
Tarrio, Proud Boys Int& #39;l chairman, is Afro-Cuban. He says reason cops kill more Black men bc they listen to hip-hop. That makes them commit more crime that leads to more police killings. This is unambiguously racist. Just bc a Black guy said it doesn& #39;t make it any less racist.
Now, receipts. 1st, deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville 2017. Proud Boys claim they "had nothing to do with Charlottesville." They claim "Neither Mr. Tarrio, nor any other Proud Boys, were present at" Charlottesville. They are lying syphilitic scumbags.
Here is Enrique Tarrio at Charlottesville rally when Heather Heyer was killed by Neo-Nazi. Flag patch w/ V is Proud Boy& #39;s defunct militia, Fraternal Order of Alt Knights. It was led by notorious neo-Nazi Augustus Invictus.
Proud Boys say they "do not now, nor have they ever, espoused white nationalist, white supremacist, anti-Semitic, or alt-right views." Except they picked holocaust denier and white nationalist Augustus Invictus to head their former militia. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/augustus-sol-invictus">https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-...
Yet another Proud Boy in Charlottesville was Irvin Antillon. Pictured near the Neo-Nazi Identity Evropa, Antillon is a member of a Latino skinhead gang, Battalion 49. He joined in the notorious Proud Boys gang attack in NYC in Oct 2018.
#selection-287.6-287.20">https://archive.fo/cKQz5 #selection-287.6-287.20">https://archive.fo/cKQz5...
Here& #39;s lawsuit for victims of far-right violence in Charlottesville. Proud Boys Kessler & Invictus are defendants. So is Fraternal Order of Alt Knights. Tarrio was part of FOAK. Journos should hound him ab Charlottesville. Don& #39;t let him do "peaceful" act.
https://files.integrityfirstforamerica.org/14228/1567613983-first-amended-complaint-as-filed.pdf">https://files.integrityfirstforamerica.org/14228/156...
Charlottesville showed Proud Boys double game. They are a big tent for anti-Semities, white nationalists and Neo-Nazis. Their only function is violence. But they use brown and Black faces to present themselves as multi-racial conservative political group.
Proud Boys are bridge btwn violent extremism and GOP. Trump made it explicit in debates. But this goes farther back. In Oct 2018, at NYC Metropolitan Republican Club, Gavin McInnes, re-enacted political assassination of a Japanese socialist. https://thebaffler.com/latest/boys-to-men-oconnor">https://thebaffler.com/latest/bo...
Audience included skinhead gangs, 211 Bootboys and Battalion 49. Image if Democrats re-enacted attempted assassination of Reagan and hosted Crips and MS-13 members. After event, Proud Boys engaged in a gang assault on 3 antifascists. https://archive.thinkprogress.org/proud-boys-violent-mob-after-gavin-mcinnes-lecture-899d32404a75/">https://archive.thinkprogress.org/proud-boy...
Rise Above Movement is an "Alt Right street-fighting club." A white nationalist outfit that include hardened criminals, RAM provokes violent brawls w/ their ideological enemies, like antifa. That& #39;s why Proud Boys made common cause with them. https://www.propublica.org/article/white-hate-group-campaign-of-menace-rise-above-movement">https://www.propublica.org/article/w...
Pro Publica says Rise Above Movement recruits from Hammerskin Nation, "the country’s largest Nazi skinhead gang, which has been tied to at least 9 murders in 4 states." Proud Boys is bridge btwn Nazis and the Republican Party.
That Providence riot featured two notorious Proud Boys brawlers, Tusitala "Tiny" Toese and Alan Swinney. Also said identified as being present was Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson, which is closely allied with Proud Boys.
Here is video of Enrique Tarrio greeting members of American Guard in Portland in August 2019. American Guard was formerly a chapter of Soldiers of Odin USA, an extremist anti-immigrant group founded by Brien James. https://twitter.com/AntiFashGordon/status/1162831635005546498">https://twitter.com/AntiFashG...
Brien James is a white supremacist and active in racist skinhead gangs. ADL has documented how these gangs, which are in effect if not outright neo-Nazis, have been using Trump rallies, which include Proud Boys, to mainstream. https://www.adl.org/blog/behind-the-american-guard-hardcore-white-supremacists">https://www.adl.org/blog/behi...
A case study in how Patriot Prayer also radicalizes recruits, turning bigots into violent white nationalists and attracting extremist groups from Neo-Confederates to white nationalists. https://rosecityantifa.org/articles/allen-pucket/">https://rosecityantifa.org/articles/...
Proud Boy Joe Biggs, a main organizer of Sept. 26 in Portland, openly spews violent threats. Police have let Portland become haven for far-right violence bc they have history of and are sympathetic to white nationalism and despise antifascists. https://jacobinmag.com/2019/09/andy-ngo-proud-boys-antifa-rally-portland-infowars">https://jacobinmag.com/2019/09/a...
Some videos of Proud Boys violence in Portland and Salem, Oregon. https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1311126763489996801?s=19">https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/s...
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