Proud Boys

Proud Boys (also known pejoratively as 'Poor Boys' ) is a pro-LGBT hashtag far-right extremist and a designated terrorist hate group in Canada and New Zealand with ties to white nationalism and a history of misogyny and glorifying violence.

Founder Gavin McInnes announced the Proud Boys on Taki's Magazine in 2016, 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 ), Mike Cernovich, of Gateway Pundit, and

Early Proud Boys manual
During the 2023 trial of Proud Boys members for their role in the 2021 coup attempt an early Proud Boys manual was made public; the manual had been seized by search warrant in 2021. The manual can be dated roughly, based on McInnes' obvious writing style and the reference to Dante Nero as 'pope' of the Proud Boys; Nero had left the Proud Boys before September 2017, after he realized that the group was attracting racists. The manual is full of both inanity and contradiction. Why is this? One explanation might be that McInnes himself is doofus, another explanation might be for the same reason that advance fee fraud emails are badly written — to quickly weed out people who might see through the scam.

All of Proud Boys' meetings are to begin with a three-paragraph quote from Pat Buchanan's book The Death of the West,  which puts the lie to the claim that Proud Boys are merely "Western chauvinist" since Buchanan is an anti-semitic fascist. The "Western chauvinist" claim is essentially spin (public relations) for being white nationalist. Regarding these paragraphs, the manual instructs chapters in other countries to omit the sentence with American exceptionalism ("America was a segregated society, but in no other nation do people enjoy greater freedom, opportunity, and prosperity than here in the United States.").

The manual includes cultural appropriation: using the Swahili word for freedom (uhuru) as a rallying cry, and using the Muslim phrase "peace be unto him", a phrase which is only used for the prophet Muhammad. The manual then wonders rather stupidly whether Muslims should be allowed to join. In reference to men whom McInnes is unsure of whether they could join, the manual also includes the offensive term 'Abbo' (for Australian Aborigines), but presumably referring to the person that McInnes married in 2005, a Native American woman. Another cultural appropriation that the Proud Boys make is the use of the song "Proud of Your Boy" from the Broadway musical Aladdin (2014 release), which contains rather silly lyrics for a bunch of supposedly macho men. Aladdin is ultimately based on a Middle Eastern folktale, so we're 'proud' of you boys for stealing that too.

In the section "Our Politics", it is immediately claimed that "We are not a political group. We are a fraternal brotherhood like the Elk's Lodge or the Shriners." The section then proceeds to list McInnes' "10 Ways to Save America", what are essentially wrong-headed and simplistic political positions: • 2

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." He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2021.


 * In December 12, 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. Four people were stabbed and four churches were vandalized during the chaos.


 * On 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 African American church during the above demonstration on the night of December 12, 2020. During the arrest, officers confiscated two high-capacity ammunition feeding devices and charged him with felony possession of them. Tarrio was found guilty of two misdemeanors and sentenced to 155 days of incarceration.

2021 U.S. Capitol riot
At least 37 members or associates of the Proud Boys were arrested in connection with the Capitol riot. "[A]t least 65 Proud Boys affiliates joined an on-the-ground communications channel in Washington, led by four men accused of leading others in some of the most destructive, aggressive and earliest attacks to breach police lines… "A confidential informant from the Proud Boys told the FBI the Proud Boys would have killed Mike Pence if given a chance."


 * On January 8, 2021, the leader of the Hawaii chapter of the Proud Boys, Nick Ochs, was charged with trespassing into a restricted building during the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. Ochs is also a member of "Murder the Media", a YouTube podcast.


 * On January 13, 2021, self-described Proud Boy Eduard Florea was arrested in New York City for making threats against Democrats. In August 2021, Florea pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting threats to injure Senator Raphael G. Warnock, and one count of possessing ammunition after having been convicted of a felony.


 * Also on January 13, 2021, Dominic Pezzola (a.k.a. "Spazzo"), who broke the first window in the Capitol riot, was arrested and charged. He has also been charged with conspiracy along with fellow-PB, William Pepe.


 * On January 15, 2021, the FBI charged self-declared Proud Boy Daniel Goodwyn with trespassing into a restricted building during the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. During the riot, while in the Capitol building, Goodwyn was doxxed by Baked Alaska.


 * On January 20, 2021, Joseph Biggs, yet another self-described Proud Boys leader, former Infowars staffer, and an organizer of a controversial rally that took place in Portland, Oregon on August 17, 2019 called the "", was arrested in Florida for his role in the Capitol riot and charged with obstructing an official proceeding before Congress, entering a restricted on the groups of the U.S. Capitol and disorderly conduct.


 * A father-son pair of proud boys were arrested, Kevin “Tito” Tuck and his son Nathaniel A. Tuck, who are former and current police officers. They are charged with 9 counts, including assault of police officers and theft of government property.


 * Alleged PBs James Haffner and Ronald Loehrke were charged with civil disorder; Haffner was also charged with assaulting officers with a chemical spray.


 * Joshua Pruitt was sentenced to 55 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. He appeared to have attempted to confront Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a Capitol hallway, allegedly with intent to commit harm, but did not commit violence during the riot. His lengthy sentence was due to his lengthy criminal record, including assaulting police.

From Proud Boys to Poor Boys
In a 2020 presidential debate Donald Trump implicitly endorsed their violence by saying, "Proud Boys: 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, the gaffe-prone 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.

"Enrique Tarrio did nothing wrong!"
On January 27, 2021, the chicken-on-a-weathervane did a 180°. It was revealed that Tarrio had become a 'prolific' informant for local investigators and the FBI since 2012 after he was arrested "in a fraud case related to the relabeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits", well before the start of his tenure as leader of the Poor Boys. Tarrio entered into a plea deal, and "he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes." Tarrio's cooperation also included working undercover on cases involving anabolic steroids, wholesale prescription narcotics, and human smuggling. Tarrio admitted to Reuters that he would let police department know about Proud Boys' plans before rallies (which is sensible if one is planning a peaceful rally), but since Tarrio was already a police informant, it takes on a different character that the more violent elements within the group might not appreciate.

In the fallout from the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot and the revelation that Tarrio is a stoolie, cracks in the Proud Boys structure have formed, with four chapters disaffiliating from the organization: Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri and Las Vegas. Despite this, Tarrio claimed not just that the organization was not splintering but that it could not splinter.

FAFO: Fuck around and find out
I thought, 'What the fuck have you imbeciles done now?' They’re not the brightest bulbs in the tree. They’re not exactly sophisticated. On January 6, 2021, a bunch of Proud Boys "fucked around" by playing a significant role in the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. In the ensuing weeks, the Proud Boys "found out" the consequences of being an insurrectionist: about 20 members have been charged with conspiracy and other crimes.

In February 2021, the Proud Boys were declared a terrorist organization by Canada, which allows police to seize assets of the group and its members. Oopsie Gavin, you're still a fuckin' hoser! Furthering their legal difficulties, the Proud Boys' ex-lawyer, Jason Lee Van Dyke, who owns the PB trademark revoked the right of the PBs to use it because of their violent actions and alleging that Tarrio's merchandise was "substandard". The fight over the trademark could be entirely moot however because it could face cancellation due incorrect registration (the owner not being affiliated with the organization) or if the organization is declared illegal per se.

After the riots, the Proud Boys enjoyed increasing scrutiny and elevated criminal charges from United States law enforcement as well. In court papers released in February 2021, prosecutors allege that, far from being mere participants, some of the Proud Boys coordinated and conspired certain elements of the riot, as well as obstructed and interfered with police officers protecting the Capitol. In early February 2021, five Proud Boys, including the the self-described "sergeant-at-arms" for the Proud Boys Seattle chapter, Ethan Nordean (aka "Rufio Panman"), were arrested for their role in the riots on a joint conspiracy charge (with a footnote from the FBI anticipating more arrests in the future). In addition, on February 3, 2021, prosecutors added "conspiracy to obstruct Congress" to Nick Ochs' charges, adding to the list of other arrested Proud Boys (Dominic Pezzola and William Pepe) charged with conspiracy.

In the short period between Tarrio's January 4 arrest and the January 6 Capitol riot, Nordean had been elected leader of the PBs. It looks like the PBs will have to find another new leader due to the FBI's finding a passport in his house that did not belong to him and due to details uncovered about his communications with the PBs as to how to prevent the election certification on the election on the 6th.

In June 2021, a rough transcript of audio messages by various Proud Boys members found on Nordean's cell phone was released as part of court proceedings against Nordean. The audio clips reveal that the organization descended into chaos, confusion, and disfunction following the January 6 insurrection.

By April 9, 2021, the list of Proud Boys arrested for riot related crimes expanded to more than 20 in total (including two organizers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina). At least three Proud Boys (Dominic Pezzola, William Pepe, William Chrestman) faced charges of assaulting or threatening to assault federal law enforcement officers. Another Proud Boy (Christopher Worell) was charged with allegedly using pepper spray against police officers. It was noted by the New York Times that the Proud Boys, like many in the capitol riot, used their cell phones to document their criminal activities during the coup attempt on social media like Parler, providing plenty of self-owning footage for prosecutors to work with.

On December 22, 2021, Matthew Greene became the first PB to plead guilty, to obstructing Congress and conspiring to obstruct law enforcement, both felonies. Greene is also cooperating with prosecutors.

The Proud Boys faced additional legal trouble when, on February 16, 2021, several members of Congress and the NAACP filed a lawsuit accusing the Proud Boys (and several other prominent riot participants) of violating the by conspiring to disenfranchise Black voters via their riot participation. Adding to the Proud Boys' legal woes, on April 9, 2021, the, one of the historic Black churches where the Proud Boys destroyed Black Lives Matter signs during a December 12, 2020 rally in Washington D.C., won a default judgement against the Proud Boys and Enrique Tarrio. The lawsuit had accused Tarrio and the Proud Boys of theft, defacement of private property, trespass, and intentional destruction of religious property.

As part of an effort by various police departments to root out officers with extremist ties, a Fresno, California police officer and Proud Boy, Rick Fitzgerald, was fired for his activities. He had participated in a November 2020 pro-Trump rally that turned violent. He had claimed that he quit the Proud Boys after that incident, but in 2021 he was still urging people to join extremist groups (Three Percenters and ).

The Proud Boys had often sought to downplay their extreme elements, with McInness downplaying the group as a "men's club" that simply meets "in a bar once a month" and drinks beer "just like everyone else". Although it was clears from the beginning that McInness's description was bullshit, the Proud Boys' participation in the riots revealed, clearly and unequivocally to everyone, the group's true extremist colors.

In March 2022, Tarrio was charged with conspiracy in connection with the 2021 Capitol insurrection attempt. He was quickly arrested and, in May 2022, denied pretrial release.

On June 6 2022, the Justice Department charged Tarrio and four other Proud Boy leaders with, a far more serious tort than the conspiracy charges they were previously facing. At this date, the only other riot participants to receive this charge were several leaders of the Oath Keepers.

In May 2023, Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Nordean, and Rehl were found to be guilty of seditious conspiracy. The jury could not reach a verdict on Pezzola for seditious conspiracy, but found him guilty of other charges.

Post-riot
Following the 2021 Capitol riot, the national organization of the Proud Boys has supposedly disbanded, leaving local chapters to stir up shit. Proud Boys have been menacing school board meetings in opposing face mask mandates and joining anti-vaccine mandate protests during the COVID pandemic.

Since 2022, PBs have been menacing drag events, particularly Drag Queen Story Hour.