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With Trump telling Proud Boys to "Stand back and stand by," I'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.
First, the best general profiles. The Guardian's Jason Wilson has followed the Proud Boys closer than any other reporter and wrote this profile of them more than two years ago. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/14/proud-boys-far-right-portland-oregon
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
Brendan O'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
The Southern Poverty Law Center notes Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes used Taki's Magazine, a far-right outlet that publishes neo-Nazis, to launch the Proud Boys. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys
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
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'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
Tarrio, Proud Boys Int'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'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'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
Jason Kessler, who organized 2017 fascist bash in Charlottesville, was filmed being inducted into the Proud Boys. He also retweeted a photo of a dozen Proud Boys headed to rally that turned deadly. https://archive.thinkprogress.org/proud-boys-founder-tries-and-fails-to-distance-itself-from-charlottesville-6862fb8b3ae9/
Another one of the shocking incidents from Charlottesville was the gang attack on DeAndre Harris in a parking garage. Among those found guilty was Alex Michael Ramos, who said he was a Proud Boy, and was sentenced to 6 years in the attack. https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/georgia-man-gets-six-years-for-charlottesville-beating/ETG6StFvbV3Kq2MghoXtbL/
Another Proud Boy present in Charlottesville was Salvatore Cipola, who earlier in 2017 was arrested for assaulting two reporters outside a Gavin McInnes talk. https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170203/greenwich-village/11-arrested-at-nyu-protest-against-conservative-firebrand-gavin-mcinnes/
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.
https://archive.fo/cKQz5#selection-287.6-287.20
https://archive.fo/cKQz5#selection-287.6-287.20
Here'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't let him do "peaceful" act.
https://files.integrityfirstforamerica.org/14228/1567613983-first-amended-complaint-as-filed.pdf
https://files.integrityfirstforamerica.org/14228/1567613983-first-amended-complaint-as-filed.pdf
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
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/
That event is notable both for how the Proud Boys act as a pipeline for violent extremists into Trump's Republican Party, and it was 1 of 3 violent PB street brawls in a week, the others being in Portland and Rhode Island. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-proud-boys-street-gang-attacked-protesters-across-the-country-over-the-weekend_n_5bc4903ae4b01a01d68cc9cb
More significant, Neo-Nazi skinheads in Proud Boys gang attack is one of a number of times (plus Charlottesville) where Proud Boys ally w/ extremists. They've rallied w/ Rise Above Movement, one of the most violent neo-Nazi groups. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/13/far-right-skinheads-join-proud-boys-assaulting-protesters-new-york-city-following-gavin
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's why Proud Boys made common cause with them. https://www.propublica.org/article/white-hate-group-campaign-of-menace-rise-above-movement
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.
Resist Marxism, started by Proud Boys Kyle Chapman, is another umbrella for extremists. They hosted Proud Boys, Patriot Prayer, and American Guard for a violent rally in Providence, RI, in Oct 2018. https://upriseri.com/2018-10-07-ocean-state-against-hate/
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.
Resist Marxism works with American Guard, which the ADL calls "Hardcore white supremacists," as well as Patriot Front, which is the rebranded Vanguard America. https://archive.thinkprogress.org/resist-marxism-front-for-far-right-organizing-9bd959325ae1/
The Neo-Nazi Vanguard America changed its name after Charlottesville because among its ranks and carrying fighting equipment emblazoned with its logo was Alex Fields, who murdered Heather Heyer in a car attack. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/vanguard-america-a-white-supremacist-group-denies-charlottesville-attacker-was-a-member/2017/08/15/2ec897c6-810e-11e7-8072-73e1718c524d_story.html
HuffPo published chat logs from Proud Boys. The planned violence at Resist Marxism rally in April 2019 in Providence. Led by Alan Swinney, PB talked about killing antifascists, displayed deadly weapons, and hoped to regain street cred w/ violence. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/proud-boys-chat-logs-premeditate-rally-violence-in-leaked-chats_n_5ce1e231e4b00e035b928683?fzb
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
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
I haven't touched on Portland, which is Ground Zero for Proud Boys violence. There's so much it needs separate thread. But here are a few imp articles. Patriot Prayer is closely allied w/ Proud Boys and performs same function of mainstreaming extremism. https://itsgoingdown.org/unite-the-right-patriot-prayer-joey-gibson-the-proud-boys/
SPLC on Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/07/25/another-charlottesville-threats-violence-loom-over-upcoming-portland-proud-boys-patriot
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/
Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer have held numerous violent rallies in Portland in the last two months. Bellingcat revealed violent planning by far-right extremists in conjunction with these rallies. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/09/23/patriot-coalition-far-right-chat-logs-violence/
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
This thread is hardly exhaustive, but one final tidbit. Proud Boys former lawyer Jason Van Dyke is a hardcore racist who threatened to lynch Black people. He was recently caught plotting a murder and terror campaign. Their former lawyer. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/06/02/recording-former-proud-boys-leader-jason-van-dyke-lays-out-plans-stalking-terror-campaign
Meet one of the Proud Boys that Trump asked to "Stand back and stand by." In 2019, Proud Boy Buckey Wolfe killed his brother by jamming a sword through his head, claiming, "God told me he was a lizard." https://www.huffpost.com/entry/proud-boy-allegedly-murders-brother-with-a-sword-thinking-hes-a-lizard_n_5c36042ee4b05b16bcfcb3d5
Some videos of Proud Boys violence in Portland and Salem, Oregon. https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1311126763489996801?s=19
