The Daily Beast
Proud boys are reuniting again, but with a stealthy twist
Kevin Mohatt / ReutersOn Saturday, on opposite sides of the country, men in black and yellow uniforms took to the streets for various far-right causes. In Sandy, Oregon, they joined a church for an anti-gay event. In Raleigh, North Carolina, they joined supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory for a protest against COVID-19’s preventive measures. They were members of the Proud Boys, a far-right paramilitary group, many of whom were tasked with planning and taking part in the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol. (The group may face additional legal challenges, with a high-ranking prosecutor suggesting accusations of sedition to unidentified protesters.) After the Capitol rebellion and subsequent revelations that the Proud Boys president was a federal informant, some chapters of the Proud Boys fragmented, while others seemed less publicly more active than in previous months. But in recent days, some chapters of the Proud Boys have resumed their public rallies, often joining other right-wing groups, while their own leadership grapples with serious criminal charges. “I think we saw a bit of a lull just after January 6 for the Proud Boys and many other undemocratic groups across the country,” said Stephen Piggott, program analyst at Western States Center, a non-profit organization that monitors the far right . “But there has certainly been an increase recently and in meetings in the Pacific Northwest.” Proud boys delivered another blow as the feds destabilized The rally in Sandy, Oregon, on Saturday, was one of the group’s first after January. Six events in the state, where Proud Boys are notoriously active, reported Willamette Week. During the demonstration, members of the Proud Boys joined an anti-LGBT event organized by the Rios de Água Viva Pentecostal Church, which did not immediately return a request for comment. Her pastor, Russel Collier, told Willamette Week that he had not invited the Proud Boys, but that he appreciated the group’s presence because someone had already hung pro-LGBT banners in his church. across the street, Proud Boys would have shouted insults at them, accusing them of being communists. (The Proud Boys in Oregon had already endorsed violence against Communists, wearing T-shirts that endorsed the murder of Communists under the administration of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.) Do you know anything we should on the far right, Proud Boys, or January 6? Send an email to [email protected] or securely at [email protected] from a non-work device. Piggott said many of the Proud Boys’ recent appearances were at events organized by other far-right groups. That was the case in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday. Online, the Raleigh rally was announced as part of a worldwide March 20 uprising against the COVID-19 “blockades”. In reality, North Carolina is far from being closed, with indoor meals and permitted sporting events. About 100 people attended the event. Among them was a heterogeneous variety of Proud Boys and of the MAGA type, with at least one person flying a Three Percenter militia flag and another flying a large QAnon conspiracy theory flag, which falsely accuses former President Donald Trump’s enemies of being involved in satanic cannibalism and pedophilia. The rally took place during a bad week for the North Carolina Proud Boys and a bad year for the organization in general. Charles Donohoe, the leader of a chapter of the Proud Boys in North Carolina, was arrested on Wednesday on charges of conspiracy for allegedly planning to dominate the police and enter the Capitol. Proud Boys leaders in three other states are listed as co-defendants in their case, with other Proud Boys across the country facing their own criminal charges stemming from the Capitol riot. And last month, several chapters of the Proud Boys announced their separation from the national organization, after it was revealed that the Proud Boys president, Enrique Tarrio, worked as a federal informant. to look at a makeover of the brand when trying public events. The Patriot Party, a loosely affiliated pro-Trump movement, has hosted events with the presence of uniformed Proud Boys, CNN previously reported. A Patriot Party organizer, who is currently announcing upcoming events in Pennsylvania, had previously described himself on video as a Proud Boy. However, he told CNN at a Patriot Party event that he had never heard of the group. Even online, the Proud Boys appear to have taken steps to mingle with a wider pro-Trump crowd after the Capitol rebellion. An old Proud Boys channel on the Telegram messaging platform now describes itself as a safe haven for users of conservative social media site Parler, which briefly went offline after the Capitol riot. “This is a PUBLIC chat for Parler refugees and not affiliated with any group,” reads a post posted on the channel. The channel currently has more than 12,700 members, many of them not Proud Boy. Despite the channel’s insistence that it is not affiliated with any group, Tarrio appears to moderate the group and promote his own content to the channel’s thousands of subscribers. Piggott said Oregon was preparing for a far-right car rally this weekend. Like the events of Raleigh and Sandy last week, the Proud Boys are not organizing the event, but should attend. Read more on The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Submit to The Daily Beast here. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Subscribe now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper into the stories that matter to you. To know more.