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With 5 more Proud Boys getting arrested today, here are some things I have written about them over the years. In short: they have always used force and violence to pursue their political goals. Here is the @splcenter extremist file I first wrote in 2017 https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys
Though their Islamophobia, transphobia, misogynistic, & racist ideas are dangerous on their own, the group has a long record of feeding members into even more extreme circles, as white nationalist and neo-Nazis noted themselves in this 2018 report https://www.splcenter.org/20180419/mcinnes-molyneux-and-4chan-investigating-pathways-alt-right
Proud Boys took to the street constantly in the summer of 2018, instigating violence with counter protesters and using it as justification to invade the city’s streets again in revenge https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/06/patriot-prayer-and-proud-boys-roll-portland-ready-fight
Tensions reached a fever pitch by late July. A video of Proud Boy Ethan Nordean punching a protester had gone viral and exhilarated the group’s members, causing larger crowd to turn out to rallies https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/07/25/another-charlottesville-threats-violence-loom-over-upcoming-portland-proud-boys-patriot
As a sidenote: Proud Boys and others didn’t expect to be disarmed before that August rally, the largest of the summer. They always expected to act with minimal law enforcement interference, because that is generally what happened https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/02/14/texts-between-portland-police-and-patriot-prayer-ringleader-joey-gibson-show-warm-exchange/
This was an extremely active period of far-right mobilization, with the Proud Boys playing a leading role in on-the-ground organizing after many of the leaders of the movement got entangled in lawsuits related to Unite the Right https://www.splcenter.org/20200810/when-alt-right-hit-streets-far-right-political-rallies-trump-era
During all of this, the Proud Boys were relying on Facebook to organize rallies, spread propaganda, and vet new members openly on Facebook, which @amendalex and I outlined here. Did Facebook take down their content? Not for several more months. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/08/02/facebooks-fight-club-how-proud-boys-use-social-media-platform-vet-their-fighters
In October 2018, a large group of Proud Boys attacked protesters after Gavin McInnes gave a speech praising a Japanese ultranationalist who assassinated a socialist politician. 10 Proud Boys were later charged in relation to the fight https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/18/why-are-proud-boys-so-violent-ask-gavin-mcinnes
After the NYC incident, the Proud Boys pulled back from rallies, but never disappeared. In Portland one member threatened the city’s mayor and others harassed members of DSA https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/01/25/proud-boy-threatens-portland-mayor-im-coming-you
Their violence created a steady stream of propaganda for the far right. Despite all evidence, Proud Boys painted their violence as defensive, perpetuating a narrative of right-wing victimization and justifying further violence against the left https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/06/11/accusations-mirror-how-radical-right-blames-rising-political-violence-left
Even though DHS reports that white supremacist extremists “remain the most persistent and lethal threat in the Homeland,” the idea that the left posed a violent, authoritarian threat was such powerful propaganda that Trump adopted it himself https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52868295
By fall, they were back in the streets of Portland in full force. After watching police violently go after BLM protesters all summer, they saw an invitation to do the same and praised Kyle Rittenhouse as a “hero” https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/09/25/moment-proud-boys-have-been-waiting
I ended that article by noting that the Proud Boys had long been waiting for permission from Trump to carry out all their violent fascist fantasies, and boy did they get it when Trump told them to “stand back and stand by” from the debate stage just days later.
The Proud Boys, a group that claims to represent Christian values, had a real mask off moment in December when they destroyed two BLM banners that belonged to historic black Christian churches. Enrique Tarrio faces charges related to the incident https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/12/16/proud-boys-destroy-churches-black-lives-matter-signs-during-protest-washington-dc
Of course so many of them showed up to the Capitol. What they did in the lead-up to January 6th - actively preparing for violence, gathering protective gear, coordinating transportation and communication - are things they have been doing for years. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/11/politics/proud-boys-capitol-riot-arrest/index.html
This isn’t the end of their political moment. If anything the rhetoric and strategies they espouse are more extreme than ever, & a large part of the political right is shifting closer to their belief that violence is a necessary political tool @hannahgais https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/01/22/capitol-insurrection-shows-how-trends-far-rights-fringe-have-become-mainstream
There are so many people who have been articulating this threat for years. But it had to take an insurrection to shake those who willfully ignored it for so long
