User:Forerunner/Proud Boys re-edit



Proud Boys is a far right extremist group with ties to white nationalism and a history of misogyny and glorifying violence.

Founder Gavin McInnes announced the Proud Boys on Taki's Magazine, an alt-right publication. Numerous members of the Proud Boys are alt-right. McInnes hosts alt-right guests on his shows, like Holocaust-denying Baked Alaska. And Neo-Nazi podcaster The Right Stuff lauds McInnes for recruiting people to the far right. However, McInnes fiercely asserts that the Proud Boys are not alt-right — and they were willing to sue the Baltimore City Paper to prevent them from using the term.

Some high-profile Proud Boys include Roger Stone (a Second Degree member ) and of Gateway Pundit.

Violence
McInnes frequently asserts that the Proud Boys are nonviolent. For example, McInnes wrote that "We don’t start fights but we will finish them. The violence you see in the media is us defending ourselves from lunatics who want us dead for no discernible reason." However, as Rewire News notes, McInnes has a preoccupation with violence and often justifies it:

In practice, the Proud Boys have gained infamy mostly from their violent stunts. For example, Proud Boy Kyle Chapman became infamous as "Based Stickman" for a video of him breaking a wooden stick over the head of an antifascist activist. McInnes himself proudly announced that Chapman had founded the "Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights", which he described as the "military division of [the] Proud[ ]Boys". The Proud Boys gained headlines when they acted as the "security" force for white nationalist Lauren Southern in the "Battle of Berkeley". Afterwards, the official Proud Boys Twitter account wrote that Southern had been "protected by TheProud Boys today" and that "hearing her say 'they (antifa) can’t get to me, I’m with the guys' felt great".

On August 10, 2018, McInnes' Twitter account and the Proud Boys' Twitter account were suspended by Twitter per their rules on violent extremist groups.

Crimes
We will kill you. That’s the Proud Boys in a nutshell. We will kill you. In January 2019, Tusitala "Tiny" Toese, a Samoan-American member of Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge from a 2018 brawl in Portland, Oregon.

On August 19, 2019, Proud Boys Maxwell Hare and John Kinsman were convicted of "attempted gang assault, attempted assault and riot" outside a speech by McInnes at the Metropolitan Republican Club in New York City. During the trial, McInnes was referred to by prosecutors as a hatemonger. A total of 10 Proud Boys had been arrested who were at the event, 7 of pleaded guilty to charges of "riot, disorderly conduct and attempted assault", and one other is awaiting trial.

In 2019, Buckey Wolfe, a Proud Boy and QAnon follower, allegedly killed his brother with a sword because he thought he was a lizard.

In August 2020, Proud Boy Travis Taylor allegedly attacked and broke the finger of a journalist (Robert Evans, @iwriteOK).

In September 2020, Proud Boy Alan James Swinney was charged with multiple counts of assault, "pointing a firearm at another, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of tear gas, stun gun or mace."

In December 13, 2020, after weeping at homes that their god-emperor had not been reelected president, about 700 PBs and peripheral supporters rallied in Washington, DC. About three dozen people were arrested for causing violence, and it was reported that members of the rally roamed the streets looking for fights.

In January 4, 2021, the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested in Washington D.C. on a warrant charging him with burning a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a historic Black church during a demonstration in December 2020.

2020 Presidential Debate shout-out
In a 2020 presidential debate Donald Trump implicitly endorsed their violence by saying, "Proud Boys: Stand back and stand by."

From Proud Boys to Poor Boys
After the first 2020 US presidential debate, President Donald Trump told the Proud Boys to "Stand back and Stand by". In response, the media generally condemned Trump's remarks. On social media however, the concept to hijack the tag "Proud Boys" took off, resulting in various hashtags related to the Proud Boys getting hijacked by gay men, calling themselves the "real Proud Boys". Notable participants include the official Twitter account of the Canadian Armed forces in the US. In response, the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, called it "hysterical" and said that he "didn't care who people sleep with", appearing to miss the point of hijacking the name.

While calling out Donald Trump as a racist during a 2020 Presidential debate, Joe Biden erroneously — but appropriately — called them 'Poor Boys', but the name stuck: Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we've had in modern history. He pours fuel on every racist fire. He started off his campaign coming down those escalators saying he's going to get rid of those Mexican rapists. He banned Muslims because they are Muslims. He made everything worse across the board. He said about the Poor Boys, the last time we were on stage, he said I tell them to stand down and stand ready. Come on, this guy is a dog whistle about as big as a foghorn.