The redemption movement is an element of the pseudolaw movement, mainly active in the United States and Canada, that promotes fraudulent debt and tax payment schemes. The movement is also called redemptionism.
Redemption promoters allege that a secret fund is created for every
citizen at birth and that a procedure exists to "redeem" or reclaim this
fund to pay bills. Common redemption schemes include acceptance for value (A4V), Treasury Direct Accounts (TDA) and secured party creditor
"kits," collections of pseudolegal tactics sold to participants despite
a complete lack of any actual legal basis. Such tactics are sometimes
called "money for nothing" schemes, as they propose to extract money
from the government by using secret methods. The name of the A4V scheme in particular has become synonymous with the movement as a whole.
Although the movement has maintained a following since the 1990s,
its theories are false and meritless. Those who participate in
redemption schemes, and especially those who promote them to other
people, can face criminal charges and imprisonment. Several government
institutions, including the FBI, have issued warnings about the fraudulent character of redemption schemes.
The ideas of the redemption movement should not be confused with the actual legal right of redemption, under which a debtor may buy back property that has been levied or foreclosed, either by paying the balance of the debt or by matching the price at which the property sells.
The redemption movement overlaps with the sovereign citizen movement, with several influential sovereign citizens promoting redemption schemes and ideas. Part of its concepts were also adopted by the Canadian-born freeman on the land movement and by various other pseudolaw "gurus", movements and litigants.
One such supporter was Roger Elvick, a former North Dakota farmer who had lost his farm in a business deal.
He became the national spokesman for the Committee of States, a Posse
successor organization that engaged in open rebellion against tax
authorities. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Elvick was associated with the Aryan Nations during the 1980s. Elvick sold a book, The Redemption Package, that encouraged people to claim large refunds and information rewards from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and then pay their debts with "sight drafts" (worthless checks) issued by his own company, Common Title Bond & Trust. Elvick was convicted and imprisoned for his activities, as were several of his accomplices.
Debt cancellation schemes and prosecutions which were similar to Elvick's continued through the 1990s, including Family Farm Preservation and the Montana Freemen.
Elvick resumed his activities after his release in 1997, giving
seminars around the country, and the use of redemption schemes surged.
By the late 1990s, the belief in the existence of a secret bank
account, attached to each individual and containing large sums of money,
had become a fixture of redemption schemes. The origin of this idea is
not clear, but elements of it appeared in Lodi v. Lodi (1981, Shasta County, California). In that case, plaintiff Oreste Lodi sued "Oreste Lodi, Beneficiary", produced a birth certificate as evidence that the defendant controlled his estate, and served his complaint upon the IRS. The Shasta County Superior Court dismissed plaintiff Lodi's case for failure to state a claim.
An appeals court upheld the dismissal, agreeing that "Plaintiff's birth
certificate did not create a charitable trust" and that the case was a
"slam-dunk frivolous complaint".
Around 1999, Elvick conceived the strawman theory, which states that legal and financial claims brought against an individual are really claims against a fictitious legal person
or "strawman". The theory builds on and ties together several
pseudolegal concepts alleging that government authority is illegitimate,
as well as monetary and banking conspiracy theories, and also
incorporates the belief in a secret government-controlled bank account.
The strawman, Elvick alleged, was in possession of the secret account,
but the individual was its rightful owner and could petition for access.
The theory also gives a specific role to the Uniform Commercial Code, which provides an interstate standard for documents such as driver's licenses or for bank accounts.
As sovereign citizens believe the UCC to be a codification of the
illegitimate commercial law ruling the United States, adherents to the
strawman theory see this as evidence that the associated laws and
financial obligations do not apply to them, but instead to the
"strawman".
The state of Ohio charged Elvick with corrupt business activity
in 2003, and he returned to prison after being sentenced to four years.
Elvick's concepts and schemes and variations thereof have since remained a mainstay of the pseudolaw environment. They have been used and adapted in the United States, Canada and other English-speaking countries, by many tax protesters or conspiracy theorists,
and more broadly by people seeking a remedy for their financial
stresses or willing to fight what they perceive as government
oppression. In some variations of the strawman theory, one's alleged secret fund is called a "Cestui Que Vie Trust".
The details of redemption schemes vary, but they typically rest on
the same assumptions: (1) a distinction between a living individual and a
corresponding legal person
or "strawman", (2) valuable property associated with the legal person,
but rightfully belonging to the individual, and (3) a supposed procedure
by which the individual can claim the property to pay debts. Promoters
justify these assumptions with elaborate historical tales. The most
common explanation claims that the United States went bankrupt when it abandoned the gold standard in 1933 and started using its citizens as collateral so that it could borrow money.
Supposed procedures for using the nonexistent "strawman" funds include:
Promoters may suggest that others have had great success in
eliminating their debts through these methods, and put the blame on
participants when they do not get the same results.
Official responses
The
United States government has successfully prosecuted and convicted a
number of redemption scheme participants. The convictions include
forgery, providing false information, passing fictitious financial
instruments, defrauding the United States, counterfeiting, impeding
administration, filing false tax returns, money laundering and wire
fraud.
Aside from the risk of criminal charges, redemption processes also fail to discharge debts. In a frequently cited 2007 foreclosure
case, a debtor attempted to pay her home mortgage with a redemption
"bill of exchange" at the suggestion of promoter Barton Buhtz. A United
States District Court concluded that "the legal authorities Plaintiff
cites and the facts she alleges suggest that she did not tender payment,
but rather a worthless piece of paper. Other courts addressing claims
nearly identical to Plaintiff's have found likewise."
To caution people away from redemption schemes, several U.S. agencies have issued warnings against them. Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the TreasuryDirect web site have posted statements that redemption schemes are fraudulent. The Inspector General of the Treasury, the Federal Trade Commission, and various Federal Reserve Banks
have warned that the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Banks do not
maintain draft accounts for individuals and will not honor any
individual drafts.
The IRS has announced that attributing tax liability to a "strawman" is a frivolous position that can result in a $5,000 administrative penalty.
It included the Form 1099-OID variation of the redemption scheme in its
"Dirty Dozen" list of prominent tax scams every year from 2009 to 2019. The Comptroller of the Currency has noted that, in addition to being fraudulent and ineffective, redemption schemes can be used for identity theft. Outside the United States, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand
responded to a 2017 information request by stating that birth
certificates are not investment securities and that redemption processes
are scams.
Promoters
Roger Elvick
The originator of the movement, Roger Elvick was found guilty in June 1991 by a federal jury in Hawaii of conspiracy to impede justice in connection with federal tax filings under 18 U.S.C.§ 371. He was fined $100,000, and was sentenced to five years in federal prison and three years of supervised release. While incarcerated he was further convicted in another conspiracy. He served his time and was released from the federal prison system on December 8, 1997.
Upon release from prison, Elvick restarted the scheme and resumed
holding Redemption seminars. In August 2003, he was indicted in Ohio on
multiple felony counts. During preliminary hearings, Elvick denied his identity and argued that the court had no jurisdiction
over him or his strawman. The court ruled him mentally unfit to stand
trial and committed him to a correctional psychiatric facility. There,
he was diagnosed with an "unclassified mental disorder" and underwent
nine months of treatment before facing trial. Elvick eventually pleaded
guilty; in April 2005, he was convicted of forgery, extortion and corrupt business activity and sentenced to four years.
Eldon Warman
In the late 1990s, several concepts of the movement, as well as sovereign citizen
ideology, were introduced into Canada by Eldon Warman, a follower of
Elvick who adapted the theories to better suit a Canadian context and
promoted through seminars and his Detax Canada website. However, he did not use the "redemption" and "A4V" concepts themselves. Warman, who died in 2017, was emulated by several other Canadian "gurus" within the so-called "Detaxer" movement. Though the Detaxer movement eventually went into decline, it influenced the freeman on the land movement, which made little conceptual innovation but found success through the use of social media, also reframing Detaxer ideas for a more left-leaning audience. The freeman on the land movement later expanded to other Commonwealth countries.
Barton Buhtz
During the early 2000s redemption promoter Barton Buhtz, a former radio broadcaster who had previously worked for Family Radio and for KDNO, distributed bills of exchange to clients, telling them they could be used for debt payments.
In October 2007 he was convicted on multiple counts of conspiring,
aiding, and personally passing fictitious financial instruments, and
sentenced to three years in prison. He was released in November 2012.
Sam Kennedy (Glenn Unger)
One key figure of the redemption movement has been Glenn Richard Unger, best known under the alias Sam Kennedy, who hosted the Take No Prisoners program on Republic Broadcasting Network in Round Rock, Texas. He was a founding member of the Guardians of the Free Republics.
In a mass e-mail early in 2010, Unger vowed to use his show to present a
"final remedy to the enslavement at the hands of corporations posing as
legitimate government." He pointed to a plan to "end economic warfare
and political terror by March 31, 2010." In two months, he said, "we can
and WILL, BE FREE with your assistance."
In 2013, Unger was tried in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, in Albany, New York,
on one count of attempting to interfere with the administration of the
U.S. internal revenue laws, four counts of filing false claims for over
$36 million in tax refunds, one count of tax evasion, and one count of
uttering a fictitious obligation. Unger was convicted of multiple counts of tax fraud and served approximately five years of an eight-year prison sentence.
Winston Shrout
Winston Shrout, a former construction worker and prominent sovereign citizen and tax protester from Oregon,
started practicing redemption schemes in 2000. By 2004, he was
marketing the schemes under the name "Solutions in Commerce". Shrout
built a following on social media to become a leading redemption promoter, holding seminars in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
During the same period he also attempted to pass billion and
trillion-dollar "bills of exchange" on the IRS and various financial
companies. Shrout supplemented his pseudolegal and pseudofinancial theories with claims about UFOs and paranormal issues. He created another website, "Exo-Commerce", which blended sovereign citizen and New Age concepts.
At one point, he claimed to be an "Earth delegate to the
interdimensional Galactic Round Table" and a "sixth-dimensional
interplanetary diplomat" and to have disrupted international
transactions by relocating the prime meridian with the assistance of the "Queen of the Fairies".
Shrout was indicted on 19 charges of passing fictitious
instruments and failure to file federal income tax returns. He was
convicted on all charges in April 2017, and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Shrout failed to surrender to authorities at the Federal Bureau of
Prisons to begin his sentence and remained a fugitive until November
2019, when he was arrested in Arizona.
Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf
Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf, a licensed lawyer and former state prosecutor, became a member of the sovereign citizen movement. With several associates, she created a group called the One People’s
Public Trust (OPPT) that claimed around 2012 to have "foreclosed"
governments, corporations, and banks through US Uniform Commercial Code
filings. She also said that the OPPT's subscribers would receive $10
billion in gold and could pay their debts by using "Courtesy Notice"
documents.When the money was not delivered to their followers, the OPPT claimed that it was being held by aliens.
After the failure of that original scheme, Tucci-Jarraf maintained an
online following as a sovereign citizen "guru". She asserted that people
could reclaim the funds from their alleged "secret savings account" by
taking money from the Federal Reserve. The OPPT was also involved in developing "free energy technologies" in Morocco.
One of Tucci-Jarraf's followers, Randall Beane, devised an Internet fraud
scheme aimed at extracting from the banking system tens of millions of
dollars he believed were part of his secret account. Tucci-Jarraf was
aware of Beane's fraud and gave him legal advice throughout. Beane
managed to embezzle two million dollars from a bank before he and
Tucci-Jarraf were arrested in July 2017. Upon arrest, Beane named
Tucci-Jarraf as his lawyer before police determined that she was an
accomplice. Tucci-Jarraf was arrested days later in Washington, D.C., after arriving unannounced at the White House's gate to demand a meeting with then-President Donald Trump. In January 2018, Beane was found guilty of wire fraud and bank fraud; together with Tucci-Jarraf, he was also found guilty of conspiracy to launder money. Beane was sentenced to 155 months in prison and Tucci-Jarraf to 57 months.
Despite her imprisonment, Tucci-Jarraf's methodology was emulated by
multiple people and she received many Internet donations. The OPPT is
still active as of 2019: some of its ideology and methods have influenced the German Reichsbürger movement, as well as Italian sovereign citizens.
Woke capitalism, woke capital and stakeholder capitalism are terms used by some commentators to refer to a form of marketing, advertising and corporate structures that pertains to sociopolitical standpoints tied to social justice and activist causes. The term was coined by columnist Ross Douthat in "The Rise of Woke Capital", an article written for and published in The New York Times in 2018.
Firms may engage in CSA to appeal to purpose-driven ideals, as
well as contribute to more strategic motives, in line with consumers'
existing preferences for moral purchasing options. Indeed, a recent
study found that 64% of global consumers choose to buy or boycott a
given brand on the basis of its political leanings, a result suggesting
the increasing importance of ethical consumerism practices.
In addition, the 2020 CMO Survey revealed that a growing
proportion of marketing leaders find it acceptable to make changes to
products and services in response to political issues (47.2%), have
executives speak out on political issues (33.3%), and use marketing
communications to speak out on political issues (27.8%).
Further, brands engaged in an unprecedented level of activist behavior
in response to consumers protesting racial injustice in 2020.
Firms have historically strayed from vocalizing stances on
controversial sociopolitical matters, with the understanding that doing
so could sever certain stakeholder relationships. However, modern cultural shifts have precipitated a “hyper-partisan” climate, leading to demand for firms to exercise purpose-driven efforts in the marketplace. As stated by Richard Edelman, chief executive officer (CEO) of Edelman,
“Brands are now being pushed to go beyond their classic business
interests to become advocates. It is a new relationship between a
company and consumer, where a purchase is premised on the brand’s
willingness to live its values, act with purpose, and, if necessary,
make the leap into activism.”
Definition
CSA is a unique form of cause-related firm behavior defined broadly by two distinct characteristics: publicity and partisanship. Specifically, CSA involves a firm's public support of or opposition to a partisan
sociopolitical issue. Such issues are described as “salient unresolved
social matters on which societal and institutional opinion is split,
thus potentially engendering acrimonious debate among groups.”
Notably, while the controversy surrounding a given issue can change or
be resolved, a firm's efforts may be considered CSA to the extent that
they reflect engagement with an issue defined as partisan at a given
point in time, politics, and culture. Further, the term “brand activism”
has been used to describe similar efforts by individual brands (i.e.,
owned by firms) to vocalize public stances on sociopolitical issues;
brand activism can, thus, be considered CSA delivered through a brand's
voice.
Conceptual distinctions
CSA is comparable but distinct from two related firm activities: corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate political activity (CPA).
CSR involves firms’ contributions to widely favored societal goals
(e.g., community resources, education, donations to disease prevention
research) via philanthropic or charitable efforts, CSA pertains to a firm's engagement in causes for which there is no universally acceptable “correct” response.
Further, CSA may involve a lower level of monetary investment (e.g., a
press release, an open letter) compared to CSR; however, there is
greater risk associated with CSA, due in part to the potential for
backlash from various stakeholders.
Corporate political activity
CSA is distinct from CPA—a firm's efforts (e.g., campaign contributions, lobbying, donations to political action committees) to sway political processes and gain policy-related market advantages.
While both types of firm activities reflect involvement in the
political process, they differ in the extent to which they are
publicized. CSA is often utilized as a public demonstration of a firm's
core values and principles. Conversely, CPA is an often-discreet
activity that is typically made public only through “accidental
disclosure”.
Examples
Firms have increasingly taken activist stances on sociopolitical issues across a variety of domains.
Racial justice
Firms have spoken out about racial justice in a number of ways (e.g., affirming support for the Black Lives Matter movement, donating a portion of profits to civil rights organizations).
Among the most prominent examples of racial justice CSA came in September 2018 when Nike announced football player Colin Kaepernick as the spokesperson for its thirtieth anniversary advertisement campaign. Notably, Kaepernick stirred national debate in 2016 by kneeling during the National Anthem in protest of racial inequality and police brutality in the United States.
In Nike's campaign, Kaepernick said, “Believe in something, even if it
means sacrificing everything.” News agencies characterized this tagline
as implicit support for Kaepernick's platform of racial justice
advocacy.
While Nike's decision initially sparked consumer backlash, as
well as a dip in stock price, the firm's value reached an all-time high
only a week later.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll, much of the persistent
consumer support for the ad came from consumers between 18 and 34,
two-thirds of whom approved of Nike's actions.
This case has been considered a critical turning point in the
emergence of CSA as a prominent brand practice. Additional examples of
racial justice CSA include the following:
Home Depot CEO Craig Meaner said in a statement, "We are all confronting deep pain and anguish over the senseless killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery,
and other unarmed Black men and women in our country. We cannot ignore
that their deaths are part of a pattern of racism and reflect the harsh
reality that as a nation we are much too far from fulfilling the promise
of equal justice for all."
Netflix
promoted a new Black Lives Matter collection to U.S. subscribers,
featuring a number of television and movie titles about racial injustice
and the experience of Black Americans.
Walmart announced that it will donate $100 million over five years to create a new center for racial equity.
Firms have utilized both internal and external resources to take a stand on issues facing the LGBTQ+ community. For instance, many firms act as corporate sponsors of Pride parades internationally and assist in LGBTQ+ community-building efforts.
Published since 2002, the Human Rights Campaign has utilized its Corporate Equality Index
(CEI) to measure the extent to which American businesses treat
equitably their LGBTQ+ employees, customers, and investors. Criteria
used to assess companies include, among others, a written policy of
non-discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and
gender expression; appropriate and respectful advertising to the LGBTQ+
community; and transgender-inclusive health benefits.
There has been an increase in the number of firms with a perfect
CEI rating every year since the tool's inception. Such firms frequently
release statements and press releases to express satisfaction at having
been recognized for their diversity and inclusivity efforts.
Notably, many brands have also released Pride-related merchandise
in recent years to signal support for LGBTQ+ rights, as well as
position themselves as advocates for LGBTQ+ consumers.
Converse
released a collection of Pride-inspired low- and high-top sneakers
featuring a rainbow flag with a brown and black stripe dedicated to
queer people of color. Also included in this collection was a pair of
sneakers adorned with the pink, light blue, and white colors of the transgender flag.
Sephora's “We Love Pride” make-up collection featured a metallic red lipstick called “Love Is Love.” The brand donated a portion of sales to a variety of LGBTQ+ charities.
Fossil released its second annual Pride Watch, featuring a bezel with all the colors of the rainbow flag. U.S. sales benefitted the Hetrick-Martin Institute, the nation's oldest and largest LGBTQ+ youth organization.
Climate change
While sustainable business practices have long been a component of firms’ CSR activities, some companies have taken an activist stance in recent years to address climate change policy more broadly.
For example, the brand Patagonia has established itself as a chief market-based environmental justice advocate. Its November 2011 “Don’t Buy This Jacket” spot in the New York Times
served as both an advertisement for the firm's merchandise and an
imperative for consumers to reduce their carbon footprint. The ad's
message leveraged an anti-consumerist ideology to encourage the purchase of long-lasting outdoor apparel and deter the proliferation of the fast fashion industry.
Amazon announced in 2019 that it would transition to 80% renewable energy usage by 2024, and then to zero emissions by 2030. The firm's CEO Jeff Bezos
also launched the Bezos Earth Fund in February 2020, committing $10
billion to assist in “any effort that offers a real possibility to help
preserve and protect the natural world.”
Google
announced in September 2020 that it is investing in manufacturing
regions to create new carbon-free energy and help cities reduce their
emissions.
Gun control
A number of major firearms sellers have modified their gun sales policies, particularly as a response to mass shootings taking place in the U.S. Two such notable examples are the following:
Ed Stack, CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods, announced in February 2018 that stores would end the sales of high-capacity magazines, as well as sales of guns to persons under the age of 21. The firm also took legal action by urging Congress to ban assault-style weapons, raise the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21, and outlaw sales of high-capacity magazines and bump stocks. The firm cited the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida as an event that directly influenced its decisions.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon
released a statement containing news of the firm's plans to discontinue
sales of short-barrel rifle ammunition, handgun ammunition, and
handguns. This statement also requested that customers no longer openly
carry firearms into Walmart or Sam's Club stores, including those in
states in which “open carry” practices are permitted. The firm cited the 2019 El Paso shooting, which took place in a Walmart store, as a critical incident shaping its decisions.
Other domains
Firms have engaged in CSA in a number of other domains. Below are select examples.
Reproductive health care
M.A.C. Cosmetics has worked with Planned Parenthood since 2008 and contributed over $2 million to the organization. According to John Demsey, executive group president of the brand's parent company Estée Lauder,
“It is so important for people of all ages, all races and all genders
to get the accurate information and care they need so they can live
their best, healthiest lives, but we see that a lot of people aren’t
seeking that information and care because of stigmas that
disproportionately affect women, people of color and the LGBTQ
community.”
Net Neutrality
Burger King advocated for Net Neutrality
with a January 2018 ad that illustrated the concept of paid
prioritization through hamburger sales—customers were told they would
have to wait longer for their food, unless they were willing to pay a
premium for immediate service.
Gender non-discrimination
Target
issued a statement in September 2016 encouraging store employees and
patrons to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds
with their gender identity.
Immigration
In January 2017, nearly 100 Silicon Valley firms filed an amicus brief against the Trump administration's anti-immigration policy directed at refugees, travelers, and visa holders originating from predominantly Muslim portions of the world.
Controversial symbols
NASCAR announced in July 2020 that it would ban the Confederate flag from all its racing venues.
Potential business benefits
Research
has uncovered the broader financial implications of CSA on firm value
including improving firm's attractiveness to a wider segment of
investors and customers. On average, investors respond negatively to
CSA, though there are a number of factors that may buffer or even
reverse this relationship. Most notably, a firm's CSA elicits positive
abnormal stock returns when there is high alignment between the firm's
CSA and the values of its stakeholders (e.g., customers, employees,
state legislators). In particular, researchers observed an increase in
sales growth over the next quarter and year when CSA aligned with
customer values.
In addition, a number of CSA characteristics have been shown to
further heighten investor response: if the activism takes the form of an
action, is announced by the CEO, is not justified by a business
objective, and is announced alone (vs. in a coalition with other firms).
Notably, managers may find it especially appropriate to engage in CSA
if they are deeply committed to activism, and it aligns with their
strategic objectives (i.e., acquiring a more liberal or conservative
customer base).
Still, CSA requires strategic deliberation. CSA activities may
signal to stakeholders that the firm is willing to engage in risky
behaviors and even divert resources from profit-generating activities.
Given the enduring nature of activism, it is often plausible for
investors to believe CSA serves as a value-based indication of a firm's
future decisions, particularly those related to purpose, reputation, and
relationship management.
Criticisms and concerns
Critics
have expressed concern about the degree to which CSA is helpful, either
for advancing sociopolitical causes or as a firm activity more
generally.
By the mid-2010s, forms of rhetoric that were later retroactively labelled as "woke" had entered mainstream media and were being used in marketing and advertising;
campaigns associated with this trend have been generally perceived by
consumers as insincere and inauthentic, and have provoked cultural backlashes.
Cultural scientists Akane Kanai and Rosalind Gill described woke capitalism as a then-"dramatically intensifying" trend in which public relations pertains to the concerns of historically marginalized groups (such as in terms of race, gender and religion), using them as mascots in advertisements with messages of empowerment.
On the one hand, this creates an individualized and depoliticized idea
of social justice, using depictions of social action to signify an
increase in self-confidence; on the other hand, the omnipresent
visibility in advertising of minorities can also amplify a backlash
against their equality. For people in lower economic strata, the
equality of these minorities thus becomes indispensable to the
maintenance of capitalism, with the minorities being seen as responsible
for the losses of the system.
Woke-washing
The term woke-washing was used in 2019 by Alan Jope, chief executive of Unilever, who warned that brands which failed to take verifiable action on their rhetoric could "further destroy trust in our industry". Helen Lewis held the opinion that cancel culture
is the result of what she calls "the iron law of woke capitalism", and
believes that it is used for inexpensive messaging as a substitute for
genuine reform. Will Hutton wrote that he believed woke capitalism is "the only way forward", citing principles of corporate responsibility. Alternatively, Elizabeth Bruenig
noted that while woke capitalism has been seen as an evolution of
capitalism that can create unprecedented benefits for the public good,
it remains a form of capitalism and hence cannot be celebrated without
aligning with capitalist interests; similarly, Andrew V. Abela held the opinion that it does little to actually further progressive causes.
A common argument is that firms are profit-seeking and, thus,
care more about image and reputation than the causes they address. Some
have referred to firms’ political behavior as akin to "woke-washing", a pejorative term adapted from the similar concept of greenwashing.
Woke-washing is a critique leveraged against firms thought to
“appropriate the language of social activism into marketing material."
Critics have further argued that firms may utilize greater capital on the appearance of progressivism
(i.e., through advertisements and promotional efforts) than on actual
cause-related awareness or fundraising efforts. In such circumstances,
activism has been criticized as a deceptive marketing tool for capturing
demand among belief-driven consumers.
Action-based follow-through could be important for fostering
perceptions of authentic connection to supported sociopolitical causes.
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, journalists Erin Dowell and
Marlette Jackson said, “Empty company statements can seem to say that
Black lives only matter to big business when there’s profit to be made.”
Others have argued whether firms should engage with
sociopolitical issues at all. In particular, some critics have shunned
the idea that market-based entities should influence or have a say in
what is considered right and wrong.
Beginning to a major degree in the 2020s, members of the American
right have perpetuated efforts to boycott companies which openly support
"woke" causes. The phrase go woke go broke
has been an umbrella catchphrase to denote companies subject to
boycotts against companies for "going woke" or engaging in activities
like promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion or in the case of Bud Light maker AB InBev, partnering with transgender influencers. Many companies subject to "go woke go broke" campaigns, including AB InBev, Target, and the Walt Disney Company
have seen declines in revenue, profit, and/or stock value as of a
result of "go woke go broke" campaigns, though some figures in business,
such as Mark Cuban,
have defended companies engaging in "wokeness" by arguing that engaging
in social justice causes reflects companies caring about their
customers.
The Proud Boys is an exclusively male North American far-right, neo-fascistmilitant organization that promotes and engages in political violence. The group's leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the United States government, including the constitutionally prescribed transfer of presidential power. It has been called a street gang and was designated as a terrorist group in Canada and New Zealand. The Proud Boys are known for their opposition to left-wing and progressive groups and for their support of former U.S. President Donald Trump. While Proud Boys leadership has denied being a white supremacist
organization, the group and some of its members have been connected to
white supremacist events, ideologies, and other white power groups
throughout its existence.
The group originated in the far-right Taki's Magazine in 2016 under the leadership of Vice Media co-founder and former commentator Gavin McInnes, taking its name from the song "Proud of Your Boy" from the 2011 Disney musical Aladdin. Although the Proud Boys initially emerged as part of the alt-right, McInnes distanced himself from this movement in early 2017, saying the Proud Boys were alt-lite while the alt-right's focus was on race.
Donald Trump's comment, "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by", during
the September 2020 presidential debate, was credited with increasing
interest and recruitment.
After the remark caused an outcry for its seeming endorsement, Trump
condemned the Proud Boys while saying he did not "know much about" them.
According to the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, the group believes men and Western culture are under siege, using "Western chauvinism" as euphemism for the white genocide conspiracy theory. Members have participated in overtly racist events and events centered around fascist, anti-left, and anti-socialist violence. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has called the group an "alt-right fight club" and a hate group that uses rhetorical devices to obscure its motives. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described the Proud Boys as "extremist conservative" and "alt lite", "overtly Islamophobic and misogynistic", "transphobic and anti-immigration", "all too willing to embrace racists, antisemites and bigots of all kinds", and notes the group's promotion and use of violence as a core tactic.
Gavin McInnes co-founded Vice
magazine in 1994, but was pushed out in 2008 due to "creative
differences". After leaving, he began "doggedly hacking a jagged but
unrelenting path to the far-right fringes of American culture",
according to a 2017 profile in the Canadian Globe and Mail. The Proud Boys organization was launched in September 2016, on the website of Taki's Magazine, a far-right publication for which white nationalistRichard B. Spencer had once served as executive editor.
It existed informally before then as a group centered around McInnes,
and the first gathering of the Brooklyn chapter in July 2016 resulted in
a brawl in the bar where they met.
The name is derived from the song "Proud of Your Boy" originally created for Disney's 1992 film Aladdin but left out following story changes in production, and later featured in the 2011 musical adaptation.
In the song, the character Aladdin apologizes to his mother for being a
bad son and promises to make her proud. McInnes interprets it as
Aladdin apologizing for being a boy. He first heard it while attending
his daughter's school music recital. The song's "fake, humble, and
self-serving" lyrics became a running theme on his podcast. McInnes said
it was the most annoying song in the world but that he could not get
enough of it.
The organization has been described as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and NPR's The Takeaway.
Criminologists have pointed to the Proud Boys initiation ceremonies,
involvement in criminal and violent behavior, identifying apparel and
tattoos, and other characteristics as consistent with street gangs. Spencer, McInnes and the Proud Boys have been described as hipster racists by Vox and Media Matters for America. McInnes says victim mentality
of women and other historically oppressed groups is unhealthy, arguing
that "[t]here is an incentive to be a victim. It is cool to be a
victim." He sees white men and Western culture as "under siege" and
described criticism of his ideas as victim blaming. According to the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, their views have elements of the white genocide conspiracy theory. According to the ADL, the group is part of the alt-lite and is "overtly Islamophobic".
The ADL reports that "[i]deologically, members subscribe to a
scattershot array of libertarian and nationalist tropes, referring to
themselves as anti-communist and anti-political correctness, but in
favor of free speech and free markets." In October 2019, members of the Denver chapter of the Proud Boys marched with members of the Patriot Front and former members of the neo-NaziTraditionalist Worker Party.
According to the ADL, "[t]hese relationships show the Proud Boys to be
less a pro-western drinking club and more an extreme, right-wing gang." In early 2017, McInnes began to distance himself from the alt-right, saying their focus is race and his focus is what he calls "Western values". This rebranding effort intensified after the Unite the Right Rally. In 2018, McInnes said the Proud Boys were part of the "new right".
The organization glorifies political violence against antifa and leftists, re-enacting political assassinations, and wearing shirts that praise Augusto Pinochet's murders of leftists.
In April 2016, McInnes, who believes violence is "a really effective
way to solve problems", has said: "I want violence, I want punching in
the face. I'm disappointed in Trump supporters for not punching enough." In August 2017, he further stated that "[w]e don't start fights [...] but we will finish them."
Heidi Beirich, the Intelligence Project director for the SPLC, said
that this form of intentional aggression was not common among far-right
groups in the past. She further said the far-right's claim that "[w]e're
going to show up and we're intending to get in fights" was new. In 2018, it was reported, based on an internal memo of the Sheriff's Office in Clark County, Washington, that the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.
Two weeks later, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Oregon office
clarified that the FBI did not mean to designate the entire group, only
a number of members of the group, ascribing the error to
miscommunication. During the conference, the FBI recommended referring to classifications about the group by the SPLC and other outside agencies.
The organization is opposed to feminism and promotes gender stereotypes in which women are subservient to men. The organization has a female-member-only auxiliary wing named "Proud Boys' Girls" that supports the same ideology. The ADL states that the Proud Boys are an "extremistconservative group".
According to the ADL, McInnes and the Proud Boys are misogynistic,
depicting women as "lazy" and "less ambitious" than men, and "venerate
the housewife". McInnes has called for "enforced monogamy" and criticized feminism as "a cancer". Some men who are not white, including Enrique Tarrio, the group's former chairman and the Florida State Director of Latinos for Trump, have joined the Proud Boys, drawn by the organization's advocacy for men, anti-immigrant stance, and embrace of violence.
The Proud Boys claim to condemn racism, with Tarrio stating that the
group has "longstanding regulations prohibiting racist, white
supremacist or violent activity". However, the ADL has deemed that the
group as has an ideology of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism,
misogyny, transphobia and anti-immigrant sentiment with the group known
to threaten, intimidate or violently assault anti-racism protesters.
The group has claimed there is an "inherent superiority of the West",
going to great lengths to mask members' connections to white supremacy.
The ADL states that the Proud Boys' "extreme, provocative
tactics—coupled with overt or implicit racism, Islamophobia,
anti-Semitism and misogyny and the fact that the group is so
decentralized, inconsistent, and spread out—suggest the group should be a
significant cause for concern".
The Proud Boys have been banned by social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. In August 2018, Twitter
terminated the official account for the group along with McInnes'
account under its policy prohibiting violent extremist groups. At the
time, the group's profile photo showed a member punching a
counter-protester. Facebook and Instagram banned the group and McInnes in October 2018. That same year, YouTube banned the Proud Boys founder for copyright violation in December 2018.
On June 16, 2020, Facebook announced it had removed 358 accounts from
its platform and 172 from Instagram that held ties to the organization.
Membership and doctrine
Proud Boys stand next to Joey Gibson at an August 2017 rally in Seattle
The total number of Proud Boys members is unknown. Reports estimate membership between several hundred up to 6,000.
In July 2018, the Proud Boys L.A. branch had 160 members and up to 300
pending applicants, according to the unidentified Proud Boys L.A.
president.
The Proud Boys say they have an initiation process that has four stages and includes hazing.
The first stage is a loyalty oath, on the order of "I'm a proud Western
chauvinist, I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world"; the
second is getting punched until the person recites pop culture trivia,
such as the names of five breakfast cereals; the third is getting a
tattoo and agreeing to not masturbate; and the fourth is getting into a major fight "for the cause".
The masturbation policy was later modified to read: "no heterosexual
brother of the Fraternity shall masturbate more than one time in any
calendar month" and "all members shall abstain from pornography".
The Daily Beast reported in November 2018 that the Proud Boys amended their rules to prohibit cargo shorts and the use of opioids and crystal meth. However, the same article mentioned that no restrictions were placed on cocaine.
Gender and sexuality
Women and trans men are not allowed to join the Proud Boys, and the unnamed president of Proud Boys L.A. told the Los Angeles Times the group admits only "biological men".
Gavin McInnes founded the group and served as its leader. After the designation of a number of Proud Boys members as extremists with ties to white nationalism,
McInnes said that his lawyers had advised him that quitting might help
the nine Proud Boys members being prosecuted for the incidents in
October.
During the announcement he defended the group, attacked the reporting
about it, said white nationalists do not exist, and at times he said
things that made it appear he was not quitting, such as "this is 100% a
legal gesture, and it is 100% about alleviating sentencing, [it was a]
stepping down gesture, in quotation marks."
As of November 2018, the group named its leaders as Enrique Tarrio,
designated as chairman, and the "Elder Chapter", which consists of
Harry Fox, Heath Hair, Patrick William Roberts, Joshua Hall, Timothy
Kelly, Luke Rofhling and Rufio Panman (real name Ethan Nordean).
Jason Lee Van Dyke, who was the organization's lawyer at the time, had
been briefly named as chairman to replace McInnes when he left, but the
organization announced on November 30 that Van Dyke was no longer
associated with the group in any capacity, although his law firm still
holds Proud Boys trademarks and is the registered agent for two of the
group's chapters.
Enrique Tarrio at a rally in 2020. Tarrio became the national chairman of the group in 2018
Although McInnes had earlier said that any Proud Boy member who was
known to have attended the Unite the Right rally was kicked out of the
organization, the new chairman Tarrio admitted to having attended the
event, but "he had misgivings about the torchlight march and did not
participate in it."
In November 2020, Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman
said he would "reassume [his] post as President of the Proud Boys",
though it is not evident that Chapman has ever been president of the
group. He also announced that the group, which denies being a racist or white supremacist organization, would take on an explicitly white supremacist direction, and that he intended to refocus the organization on the issues of "white genocide" and the "failures of multiculturalism". He also announced that he would change the logo and rename the group to the "Proud Goys", a term used among the far-right to signal antisemitism. The attempted coup is not believed to have been successful, and the Proud Goys name has not been adopted outside of Chapman's social media.
Evidence of further disarray within the leadership of the Proud Boys emerged in February 2021, in the aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack
and the many arrests of Proud Boys that followed. The Alabama state
chapter issued a statement saying, "We do not recognize the assumed
authority of any national Proud Boy leadership including the Chairman,
the Elders, or any subsequent governing body that is formed to replace
them until such a time we may choose to consent to join those bodies of
government." The state chapters of Indiana and Oklahoma endorsed the
Alabama statement.
Connection with Roger Stone
In early 2018, ahead of an appearance at the annual Republican Dorchester Conference in Salem, Oregon, Roger Stone
sought out the Proud Boys to act as his "security" for the event;
photos posted online showed Stone drinking with several Proud Boys.
In February 2018, the Proud Boys posted a video on Facebook which
they described as Stone undergoing a "low-level initiation" into the
group. As part of the initiation, Stone says, "Hi, I'm Roger Stone. I'm a
Western chauvinist. I refuse to apologize for creating the modern
world," making him a "first-degree" member, which Kutner characterizes
as being a "sympathizer." Stone denies being a member of the group. In
July 2020, Facebook announced it had shut down the accounts and pages
linked to Stone and Proud Boys. This network of more than a hundred
Facebook and Instagram accounts spent over $300,000 on ads to promote
their posts and included false personas.
In late January 2019, when Stone was arrested by the FBI on seven criminal counts in connection with the Mueller investigation,
Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of the Proud Boys, met Stone as he left
the courthouse in Florida. Tarrio, who wore a "Roger Stone Did Nothing
Wrong" T-shirt, sold by a company owned by Tarrio, told a local TV
reporter that the indictment was nothing but "trumped-up charges" and
was later seen visiting Stone's house. The next day, in Washington, D.C.,
a small number of Proud Boys demonstrated outside the courthouse where
Stone pleaded not guilty to the charges, carrying "Roger Stone did
nothing wrong" signs and others that promoted the InfoWars conspiracy website. The Proud Boys got into an argument with anti-Stone hecklers.Tarrio was later filmed behind President Donald Trump in February 2019, during a televised speech in Miami, where he was seen wearing the same message on a T-shirt.
Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes said Stone was "one of the three approved media figures allowed to speak" about the group.
When Stone was asked by a local reporter about the Proud Boys' claim
that he had been initiated as a member of the group, he responded by
calling the reporter a member of the Communist party. He is particularly close to the group's current leader Enrique Tarrio, who has commercially monetized his position.
The Washington Post reported in February 2021 that the FBI was investigating any role Stone might have had in influencing the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in their participation in the attack of the Capitol.
Changed logo alluding to Trump's comments during the debate.
In the first 2020 presidential debate on September 29, 2020, President Donald Trump was asked by moderator Chris Wallace: "Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups, and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha, and as we have seen in Portland?"
Trump replied: "Sure. Sure, I am willing to do that." He then asked for
clarification, saying: "Who would you like me to condemn?" Wallace
mentioned "white supremacists and right wing militia". During the
exchange, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden
replied "Proud Boys" and Trump replied: "Proud Boys, stand back and
stand by, but I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, somebody's got to
do something about antifa and the left, because this is not a right-wing
problem." Shortly after, Joe Biggs, one of the Proud Boys organizers, shared through his Parler social media account a logo with the president's words "Stand back" and "Stand by".
One researcher said that Proud Boys memberships on Telegram channels grew nearly ten percent after the debate. The Washington Post reported that Trump's comments were quickly "enshrined in memes,
including one depicting Trump in one of the Proud Boys' signature polo
shirts. Another meme showed Trump's quote alongside an image of bearded
men carrying American flags and appearing to prepare for a fight."
On September 30, President Trump clarified his statement, stating
that he "doesn't know what the Proud Boys are" and that "they should
stand down. Let law enforcement do their work." On October 1, Trump said on Sean Hannity's show: "I've said it many times, and let me be clear again: I condemn the KKK.
I condemn all white supremacists. I condemn the Proud Boys. I don't
know much about the Proud Boys, almost nothing. But I condemn that."
During the second and final presidential debate on October 22,
Democratic candidate Joe Biden mistakenly referred to the Proud Boys as
"poor boys", a slip that went viral on social media.
Foreign disinformation during the 2020 presidential campaign
During the 2020 presidential campaign in October, threatening emails claiming to be from the Proud Boys were sent to Democratic voters in Alaska, Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania, the last three of which were swing states
in the upcoming election. The emails warned: "You will vote for Trump
on Election Day or we will come after you." Proud Boys chairman Enrique
Tarrio denied the group's involvement and said he had spoken to the FBI
about it. Tarrio told The Washington Post that "[t]wo weeks ago I believe we had Google Cloud services drop us from their platform, so then we initiated a url transfer, which is still in process. We kind of just never used it." Miami New Times
reported that the emails came from info@proudboysofficial.com, one of
two websites belonging to the Proud Boys, and which Tarrio said had not
been updated in a year and a half. Tarrio added that an authentic email
from the Proud Boys would come from proudboysusa.com. The FBI announced that Iranian intelligence was responsible for the spoofed
emails sent to intimidate Florida voters, and added that Russia was
also working to influence the election. Officials from each country
denied the accusations.
Activities and events
Since its foundation in 2016, members of the Proud Boys have been
involved in a number controversial and violent events. This list
contains a number of those events, some of which have resulted in
criminal charges being filed against participants.
At the 2017 March 4 Trump rally in Berkeley, California,
Kyle Chapman was recorded hitting a counter-protester over the head
with a wooden dowel. Images of Chapman went viral, and the Proud Boys
organized a crowdfunding campaign for Chapman's bail after his arrest.
After this, McInnes invited Chapman to become involved with the Proud
Boys, through which he formed the Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights.
On April 15, 2017, an alt-right rally was organized in Berkeley by the
Liberty Revival Alliance, which did not seek or receive a permit, and
was attended by members of the Proud Boys, Identity Evropa (an American neo-Nazi group) and Oath Keepers.
Many of these people traveled to Berkeley from other parts of the
country. The rally was counter-protested and violence broke out,
resulting in 21 people being arrested.
In June 2017, McInnes disavowed the planned Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, Proud Boys were at the August 2017 alt-right event, which was organized by white supremacist Jason Kessler. Kessler had joined the Proud Boys some time before organizing the event. McInnes said he had kicked Kessler out after his views on race had become clear. After the rally, Kessler accused McInnes of using him as a "patsy" and said: "You're trying to cuck and save your own ass." Alex Michael Ramos, one of the men convicted for the assault of DeAndre Harris which took place at the rally, was associated with the Proud Boys and Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights.
The Proud Boys have been active for several years in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Starting in September 2017 and continuing into 2018, the Proud Boys participated in several rallies organized by Patriot Prayer in Portland, Oregon, and nearby Vancouver, Washington.Scenes of violence from one of these rallies was turned into a sizzle reel for the Proud Boys and was circulated on social media.
Violence erupted at two events in June 2018, leaving five people
hospitalized after the far-right march on June 30 devolved into a riot
in downtown Portland.
2018 Metropolitan Republican Club Incident
In October 2018, McInnes gave a talk at the Metropolitan Republican Club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
He stepped out of his car wearing glasses with Asian eyes drawn on the
front and pulled a samurai sword out of its sheath. Police forced him
inside. Later, inside the event, McInnes and an Asian member of the
Proud Boys re-enacted the 1960 assassination of Inejirō Asanuma, the leader of the Japanese Socialist Party; a captioned photograph of the actual assassination had become a meme in alt-right social media. The audience for the event was described by The New York Times
as "a cross-section of New York's far-right subculture: libertarians,
conspiracy theorists and nationalists who have coalesced around their
opposition to Islam, feminism and liberal politics."
Protestors
Anti-fascist activists had started protesting outside the club before
the event and had reportedly engaged in vandalism. Following
cross-provocations between the opposing sides, the Proud Boys charged
towards the protesters, who threw a bottle in response, resulting in a
fight. NYC police present at the protest reportedly did not respond.
Incident
Video evidence from three separate videos showed conclusively that
the Proud Boys had instigated the fight after the Metropolitan
Republican Club event.
John Miller, New York City's deputy police commissioner for
intelligence and counterterrorism, said that "incidents like [the
post-MRC fight] make it more likely" that the Proud Boys would be
"higher on the radar" of authorities.
Ten men connected to the Proud Boys were arrested in connection with the October 2018 incident. Seven Proud Boys pleaded guilty to various charges including riot, disorderly conduct and attempted assault.
Three of the men accepted plea deals. Douglas Lennan pled guilty
to one count of riot and one count of attempted assault, and agreed to
complete five days of community service in exchange for a no-jail
sentence.
Jake Freijo and Eryk Kacznyski pled guilty to a charge of disorderly
conduct and also agreed to complete five days of community service.
In August 2019, two more of the Proud Boys, Maxwell Hare and John Kinsman, were convicted following a jury trial
of attempted gang assault, attempted assault and riot; the jury
deliberated a day and a half before rejecting their claims of
self-defense. Hare and Kinsman were each sentenced to four years in prison. The final defendant is awaiting trial.
The four anti-fascist victims of the beating are not cooperating
with prosecutors, even to the extent of revealing their identities, and
are known only as "Shaved Head", "Ponytail", "Khaki" and "Spiky Belt".
Because of that non-cooperation, the Proud Boys were not charged with
assault—which requires evidence of injury—but with riot and attempted
assault. The bulk of the evidence in the trial came from videos.
Aftermath
The fallout from the incident left the group in internal disarray.
After McInnes nominally left the group, the "Elder Chapter" of the
group reportedly assumed control. Jason Lee Van Dyke, the group's
lawyer, was appointed as the chapter's chairman.
Van Dyke was previously known for suing news media and anti-fascist
activists for reporting on the group, and for making violent online
threats with racist language.
The group then publicly released its new bylaw online, with the
names of its "Elder Chapter" members listed and redacted. The redaction
was later discovered to be botched, as the list of names can be accessed
by selecting over the black bar of the released document.
A day later, the chapter announced that Van Dyke was no longer leader
of the group, and Enrique Tarrio is the group's new chairman.
2019 Demand Free Speech rally
A Proud Boys rally called Demand Free Speech took place on July 6, 2019, in Washington, D.C.'s Freedom Plaza and Pershing Park, drawing about 250 people. McInnes, Laura Loomer and Milo Yiannopoulos appeared, while former Trump advisor Roger Stone and Jacob Wohl
did not. A counter-protest and dance party across the street drew more
people than the main rally. Police said there were only minor skirmishes
between the far-right and antifa, and no arrests were made.
Republican candidate Omar Navarro, a perennial challenger for Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters' congressional seat, withdrew from speaking at the event, tweeting that his ex-girlfriend DeAnna Lorraine, a self-described "MAGA relationship expert", had threatened him, using cocaine and having sex with members of the Proud Boys. In response to Navarro's tweets, the Proud Boys issued a video featuring former InfoWars staff member Joe Biggs
and Ethan Nordean—the star of a viral video showing him beating up an
antifa protester—in which they "banished" Navarro from the Proud Boys.
The Proud Boys' chairman Enrique Tarrio described the group as
"pro-drugs". Other speakers who had been scheduled for the rally,
including Pizzagate promoters Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec, had already canceled their appearances for reasons not apparently related to Navarro's charges.
End Domestic Terrorism rally 2019
The Proud Boys and Joe Biggs organized an August 17, 2019,
demonstration in Portland attended by members of several far-right
groups. The End Domestic Terrorism rally, which was sometimes subtitled "Better Dead than Red", was intended to promote the idea that antifa should be classified as "domestic terrorism". It received national attention, including a tweet from President Trump. One day prior to the rally, Patriot Prayer's Joey Gibson,
who had organized similar events in 2017 and 2018, was taken into
custody on charges of felony rioting during a May 1, 2019, incident.
The Proud Boys organized the August event in response to a video that
went viral of masked demonstrators assaulting conservative blogger Andy Ngo at a Portland rally on June 29, 2019.
The End Domestic Terrorism event drew more counter-demonstrators than
participants (at least one group urged its members in advance to not
attend) and ended with the Proud Boys' requesting a police escort to
leave.
2020 COVID-19 misinformation
Like other far-right groups, the Proud Boys have shown interest in
making common cause with the anti-vaccination movement, presumably for
recruiting and fundraising purposes.
On May 10, 2020, a bulletin on COVID-19 protest disinformation
campaigns by the Colorado Information Analysis Center (CIAC) described
how "the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, has been active in
spreading conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19 on Twitter, Facebook,
and Telegram," suggesting that "a faction of elites are weaponizing the
virus, and a vaccine would likely be a tool for population control and
mind control." The CIAC bulletin also warned that "spread of disinformation has the potential to cause civil unrest and mass panic".
On October 1, 2020, The Guardian
reported several United States agencies variously described the Proud
Boys as "a dangerous 'white supremacist' group", "white supremacists",
"extremists" and as "a gang", with law enforcement showing concern
"about the group's menace to minority groups and police officers, and
its conspiracy theories", including COVID-19 misinformation and
conspiracy theories.
A group of Proud Boys was present at a large rally against public
health measures, on January 23, 2022. The event was organized by the
anti-vaccination group Children's Health Defense and featured leaders of the movement such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Del Bigtree.
Anti-BLM protests
The Proud Boys at a Second Amendment rally in Richmond
On May 30, 2020, Facebook officials reported that internal
systems flagged activity from Proud Boys-related accounts encouraging
"armed agitators" to attend protests following the murder of George Floyd.
The group remained active in the Pacific Northwest and had a dozen chapters in Idaho, Oregon and Washington by 2020. In June 2020, members of the Proud Boys rallied at the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle, Washington, in an effort to confront protesters.
The Proud Boys at an Ohio event in 2020
Washington resident and Proud Boys member Tusitala "Tiny" Toese, known for brawling in the streets of Portland and Seattle during political protests, was arrested in Washington on August 28, 2020.
He was wanted for multiple probation violations related to his 2018
misdemeanor assault conviction that left a protester with stitches and a
concussion in June 2018. Toese, previously affiliated with Patriot Prayer, had been observed
participating in other assaults with members of the Proud Boys,
including an assault at a Clark County, Washington mall in May 2018 and an assault in Seattle in June 2020.
Alan Swinney, a Texas-based Proud Boys member, was arrested on
September 30, 2020, and held in Oregon on "multiple assault charges,
pointing a firearm at another, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use
of tear gas, stun gun or mace."
On October 5, 2016, a jury found Swinney guilty of 11 charges stemming
from BLM protests in Oregon on August 15 and 22, 2020, at which he
ruined a man's eye with a paint ball gun, sprayed marchers with bear
mace and pointed a loaded .357 pistol at others. He was found guilty
and sentenced to 10 years in prison with three more years of
supervision.
2020 church attacks
On December 12, 2020, Ashbury United Methodist Church, the oldest historically black church in Washington, D.C., was targeted by Enrique Tarrio and the Proud Boys after pro-Trump protests earlier that day.
They flashed white supremacist hand signs and tore down and burned a
Black Lives Matter sign that had been raised by the church. Police said that more than three dozen people were arrested and four churches were vandalized. Reverend Ianther M. Mills, the church's pastor, described the acts as "reminiscent of cross burnings" and expressed sadness that local police had failed to intervene. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio claimed responsibility for the incident, which police have designated a hate crime.
Tarrio was arrested on January 4, 2021, after police found weapon
magazines in his car during a traffic stop. He was charged with one
count of destruction of property (a misdemeanor) and two counts of possession of high-capacity ammunition feeding devices (a felony).
Tarrio pleaded guilty to both charges and on August 24, 2021, was
sentenced to almost six months in jail, starting on September 6.
The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church was also vandalized on December 12, 2020, and sued the Proud Boys and Tarrio.
The judge in the case also issued an injunction banning Tarrio from
entering the District of Columbia, except for limited exceptions related
to court matters. In June 2023, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz imposed civil penalties of over $1 million on the Proud Boys and four of its members, Tarrio, Joe Biggs, Jeremy Bertino and John Turano. Kravitz said that the four men had engaged in "hateful and overtly racist conduct" when they attacked the church.
Participation in the January 6 United States Capitol attack
...of the Proud Boys, as they pass the U.S. Supreme Court on their way to the Capitol building on January 6, 2021
Proud Boys from Arizona marching to the Capitol building wearing orange hats
Members of the Proud Boys participated in the attack on the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021, where some members of the group appeared wearing orange hats.
Some members wore all black clothing, rather than their usual black and
yellow attire, as Tarrio had suggested in a Parler post days earlier,
which prosecutors said was an apparent reference to mimicking the
appearance of antifa members. A review by The Wall Street Journal of social media posts from Proud Boys members showed that the group repeatedly invoked Trump's messages as a call to action,
and were disheartened by the arrests and what they perceived to be
Trump's lack of action in the days leading up to Joe Biden's
inauguration.
On December 30, 2020, the Proud Boys held a videoconference to
announce the founding of an elite chapter of their members called the
Ministry of Self-Defense. At the conference, Enrique Tarrio instructed
members that they should avoid other protesters, behave in an orderly
manner, and never cross police lines.
According to the ADL, a former member of the Proud Boys founded the neo-Nazi extremist group NSC-131 in 2019.
NSC-131 also attended the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and have
bragged about stealing police gear such as helmets and batons.
A New York Times investigative video titled "How the Proud Boys Breached the Capitol" and testimony and video by documentary filmmaker Nick Quested during hearings of the January 6th Committee
showed that the Proud Boys played a key role in the January 6
Insurrection. The Times video investigation concludes "...the Proud Boys
played critical roles, from the first moment of violence to multiple
breaches of the Capitol while leaving the impression that it was just
ordinary protesters leading the charge." Similarly, on June 9, 2022, filmmaker Nick Quested testified to the January 6th Committee that:
NICK QUESTED: We met up with the
Proud Boys somewhere around 10:30 am and they were starting to walk down
the Mall, an easterly direction towards the Capitol. There was a large
contingent, more than I had expected. And I was confused to a certain
extent why we were walking away from the President's speech because
that's what I felt we were there to cover.
BENNIE THOMPSON: So at 10:30 am, that's early in the day. That's even before President Trump had started speaking. Am I correct?
NICK QUESTED: Yes, sir.
...
BENNIE THOMPSON: ... You now estimate that there were around 250 to 300 individuals that — you've testified.
NICK QUESTED: (Nods)
Quested also said separately to NPR, in an interview:
There's only one moment where that -
the sort of facade of marching and protesting might have fallen, which
is there was a - one of the Proud Boys called Milkshake and Eddie Block
on his livestream catches Milkshake saying, well, let's go storm the
Capitol with Nordean - Rufio - one of the leaders of the Proud Boys
saying, you could keep that quiet, please, Milkshake. And then we
continued on marching.
The NYT investigative video report tracks the roles of Proud Boys throughout multiple video clips. It starts off with Joe Biggs directing the Proud Boys to blend in with others, he said "...we are going to go incognito...". and later explains that "Proud Boy leaders crafted a chain of command specifically for Jan. 6". Many of the Proud Boys also "worked as teams"
and "Telegram messages from that morning show that some of the Proud
Boys intend to rile up other protesters," with one thread having this
exchange between Proud Boy members:
UCC-1: I want to see thousands of normies burn that city to ash today.
Person-2: Would be epic.
January 6 testimony by Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards described the first breach after the Proud Boys arrived.
Ms. Edwards described how a Proud Boys leader named Joseph Biggs encouraged another man to approach the bike rack barricade where she was posted. That man, Ryan Samsel, she said, pushed the bike rack over, causing her to hit her head and lose consciousness.
But before she blacked out, Ms. Edwards recalled seeing "a war
scene" playing out in front of her. Police officers were bleeding and
throwing up, she recalled.
"It was carnage," she said. "It was chaos."
The Capitol Hill police were vastly outnumbered: "...the mob on the
west side eventually grew to at least 9,400 people, outnumbering
officers by more than 58 to one."
Video shown during the January 6 committee hearings show Officer
Edwards being pushed back behind a bicycle rack as Proud Boys push
barricades towards her, knocking her off her feet and causing her to hit
her head on the concrete steps.
Later, as the attack progressed, the Proud Boys were stalled by
Capitol officers on the west side. The NYT video investigation shows how
Proud Boys' leaders fell back, assessed the situation for about fifteen
minutes, and then redirected their attack to weaker points.
The redirected effort focused on the east side and a scaffolding
leading up to building entrances. The protesters on the east side, led
by the Proud Boys, now easily overran the police in the plaza. On the
west side, after about a twenty-minute battle on the scaffolding steps,
the Proud Boys broke through the resistance and rushed up the steps of
the Capitol. One of the first breaches of the Capitol was by Proud Boy
Dominic Pezzola breaking in a window using a stolen police shield.
The Times report "...found a pattern in how the Proud Boys moved
on the ground". As in this example, "Over and over, at key moments when
the Capitol was breached, the group used the same set of tactics:
identifying access points to the building, riling up other protesters
and sometimes directly joining in the violence. When met with
resistance, leaders of the group reassessed, and teams of Proud Boys
targeted new entry points to the Capitol."
Another key revelation about the Proud Boy's plans came from an informant and concerned Mike Pence:
According to an F.B.I. affidavit
the panel highlighted ... a government informant said that members of
the far-right militant group the Proud Boys told him they would have
killed Pence 'if given the chance.' The rioters on January 6th almost
had that chance, coming within forty feet of the Vice-President as he
fled to safety.
The New York Times reported in March 2021 that the
incident had caused Proud Boys and other far-right groups to splinter
amid disagreements on whether the attack had gone too far or was a
success, and doubts about the leadership of their organizations, raising
concerns of increasing numbers of lone wolf actors who would be more difficult to monitor and might pursue more extreme actions.
The Times also reported that the FBI was investigating
communications between an unnamed associate of the White House and an
unnamed member of Proud Boys during the days prior to the incursion. The
communications had been detected by examining cellphone metadata and
were separate from previously known contacts between Roger Stone and
Proud Boys.
Citing private Facebook messages, prosecutors alleged in a March
2021 court filing that during the weeks preceding the attack, Florida
Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs
had contacted Proud Boys who he said could serve as a "force
multiplier" and that he had "organized an alliance" among the Oath
Keepers, Proud Boys and the Florida chapter of the Three Percenters.
A US district court in Portland also charged two Oregon brothers who
are members of the group with the federal crimes of violence and
terrorism for actions related to the attack at the Capitol.
In June 2021, federal judge Royce Lamberth declined to release Proud Boys member Christopher Worrell
of East Naples, Florida, prior to his trial, citing Facebook posts he
had made threatening retribution against those who he believed "ratted"
him out to the FBI.
In November 2021, Worrell was released from jail and put under house
arrest. In August 2023, four days before his sentencing, he cut off his
ankle monitor and disappeared, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was found at home on September 28, at which point he faked an opioid overdose. In January 2024, he was sentenced to 10 years.
On May 19, 2023, a DC police lieutenant was arrested for allegedly lying about his communications with Tarrio.
On October 16, 2023, William Chrestman, a Proud Boys member, pled
guilty to obstructing a congressional proceeding and to threatening to
assault a federal officer. On January 12, 2024, he was sentenced to 55 months in prison.
The Justice Department announced on February 3, 2021, that two Proud Boys members had been indicted for conspiracy.
Five more individuals affiliated with the Proud Boys were charged with
conspiracy on February 11, followed by six more on February 26. Federal grand jury conspiracy indictments of others followed. Federal prosecutors considered pursuing charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, typically used to prosecute organized crime syndicates.
On November 23, 2021, Tarrio and Proud Boys International LLC
were subpoenaed by the United States House Select Committee on the
January 6 Attack. The committee's belief was that members of the
organization have information about the preparations of the event, and
what led to the ensuing violence.
In December, a federal judge rejected an argument made by four
Proud Boys members that their participation in the attack could be
considered a protected First Amendment demonstration.
The indicted are:
Charles Donohoe, leader of the North Carolina
chapter of the Proud Boys, in April 2022, became the first member of
Proud Boys leadership to plead guilty to conspiracy and agree to
cooperate with prosecutors.
After entering his plea, his attorneys released court papers in which
Donohoe admitted that several leaders and members of the Proud Boys had
discussed using "force and violence" to disrupt the certification of the
election "to show Congress that 'we the people' were in charge." He
also stated that before arriving in Washington the Proud Boys had
discussed storming the Capitol, which he said "would achieve the group's
goal of stopping the government from carrying out the transfer of
presidential power."
Nicholas Ochs, leader of the Hawaii chapter of the Proud Boys and Republican candidate for the Hawaiian state legislature from Waikiki, was present at the January 6 United States Capitol attack
and admitted entering the Capitol as well as throwing smoke bombs at
police. He was arrested and pled guilty to obstruction of an official
proceeding.
He was found guilty of felony obstruction of an official proceeding
and sentenced to four years in prison, three years of supervised release
and fined.
Shawn Price, a Proud Boy member from Rockaway, and vice president of
a local group, traveled to Washington, D.C., and on January 6, 2021,
and aggressively pushed the crowd forward into a line of defending
police officers. He pled guilty to interfering with law enforcement
officers during a civil disorder.
Matthew Greene, Proud Boys member from Syracuse, NY had told other
Proud Boys in encrypted messages that they needed to "stand together now
or end up in the gulag separately".
He pleaded guilty in December 2021 to conspiracy and obstruction of an
official proceeding and became the first Proud Boy to agree to cooperate
with prosecutors.
Nicholas DeCarlo, a member of the Proud Boys from Fort Worth, Texas
met Proud Boy Nicolas Ochs from Hawaii and entered the U.S. Capitol.
Ochs taped themselves saying, "We're not supposed to be here, this is
beyond the fence," and DeCarlo said, "We're all felons, yeah!" Later
they taped themselves on the streets of Washington and saying, "As we've
been saying all day, we came here to stop the steal." To which DeCarlo
added: "We did it. ... We did our job." DeCarlo has pled guilty to a
count of obstruction of an official proceeding.
Joshua Pruitt, a member of the DC/Maryland Proud Boys attended the January 6 United States Capitol attack
where he smashed signs, obstructed an Official Proceeding and chased
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He was found guilty and sentenced
to 55 months in prison.
Jeremy Bertino, Proud Boy from Belmont, North Carolina,
and described as a "lieutenant" to Enrique Tarrio pled guilty to
seditious conspiracy and firearms possession "to overthrow, put down or
to destroy by force the government of the United States". He awaits
sentencing.
On January 6, Proud Boys led the "tip of the spear" to breach the Capitol Building.
On June 6, 2022, the Justice Department announced that five Proud Boys had been indicted for "seditious conspiracy," a charge to be added to their February 2021 indictments of obstructing the certification of the 2020 presidential election. They are:
Enrique Tarrio,
National Chairman of the Proud Boys. On March 22, 2023, federal
prosecutors revealed that a witness they expected Tarrio to call in his
defense the next day had been a government informant for nearly two
years.
Joe Biggs from Ormond Beach, Florida was found guilty of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.
Ethan Nordean,
also known as Rufio Panman, is a Proud Boys leader from Auburn,
Washington. Nordean was found guilty of seditious conspiracy was
sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Dominic Pezzola,
Proud Boy member from Rochester, New York. On May 4, 2023, following a
three-month trial and 30 hours of jury deliberation, Pezzola was
convicted of multiple charges, including obstruction of a Congressional
proceedings, civil disorder, assaulting an officer, robbing an officer
and destroying the window. The jury acquitted him of the most serious
charge, seditious conspiracy, although his four co-defendants were
convicted of that crime. The jury deadlocked on other charges against
Pezzola, including conspiring to obstruct the counting of the electoral
votes.
Zachary Rehl, president of the Philadelphia Proud Boy chapter,
posted on social media, "Hopefully the firing squads are for the
traitors that are trying to steal the election from the American
people." He had been charged with seditious conspiracy. He was found to have pepper-sprayed officers, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
Freedom Vy, Proud Boy member from Philadelphia, allegedly broke into
the office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and has been charged
with Unlawful entry, Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct.
Isaiah Giddings, member from Philadelphia, PA allegedly broke into
the office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and has been charged with
Unlawful entry, Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct.
Brian Healion, member from Upper Darby, PA, has also been charged with Unlawful entry, Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct.
Four members of the Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious
conspiracy for their role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. All
are awaiting sentencing.[260][needs update] They are:
Joseph Hackett, a chiropractor from Sarasota, Florida
Other individuals with ties to the Proud Boys were charged with other offenses related to the Capitol attack are:
Dominic Pezzola, whose actions included filmed stealing a police
riot shielod and using it to smash his way into the Capitol and then
pausing for a victory smoke. He was found guilty of assaulting,
resisting or impeding certain officers, as well as stealing the police
shield. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
William Pepe, Proud Boy who attended the January 6 attack and was
charged with trespassing and impeding the orderly function of
government. He was fired from his MTA position for having used sick
leave to attend the rally and for having values "unacceptable and
inconsistent with the MTA.
Lucas Denney of Kinney County, Texas founder of a group called the
Patriot Boys of North Texas, meticulous and extensive planned the trip
to Washington, D.C., and participated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.
A military veteran, Denney carried body armor, pepper spray, and a PVC
pipe for use as a weapon. He was charged with assaulting a police
officer, found guilty and sentenced to 52 months in prison.
Donald Hazard from Hurst, Texas is a member of a group called the
Patriot Boys of North Texas. At the urging of the groups' president,
Lucas Denny, Hazard traveled to Washington, D.C., and participated in
the January 6 United States Capitol attack
during which he attacked and injured a police officer and then bragged
about it on Facebook. He was found guilty and sentenced to four years
and nine months in prison.
Convictions for seditious conspiracy
The trial, originally scheduled for August 8, 2022, was postponed to wait for relevant interview transcripts from the January 6 House committee.
(The committee intended to write its own final report before sharing
its witness testimony with the Justice Department, and thus neither the
prosecutors nor the defendants' counsel expected to have access to the
material until later in the year.) Two defendants motioned to reschedule
the August trial, and the government consented as long as all five
defendants would be tried together in December. Meanwhile, in October, the government extended a plea offer to all five men, which they rejected.
The trial began on December 19, 2022.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly allowed prosecutors to play a 2020
video of Donald Trump asking the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand
by." Though some of the Proud Boys defendants wanted to subpoena Trump
to appear as a witness, Judge Kelly did not support the idea, and Trump never testified.
On May 4, 2023, Tarrio, Nordean, Biggs, and Rehl were convicted
of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding,
obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent Members of
Congress and federal law enforcement officers from discharging duties,
civil disorder, and destruction of government property. Biggs was sentenced to 17 years, Rehl to 15, Nordean to 18, and Tarrio to 22.
Pezzola was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of the other serious felonies: assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and robbery involving government property. He was sentenced to 10 years.
Post-2021 actions
Alabama
Following the 2021 Capitol attack, Enrique Tarrio was discovered to have been an informant to both federal and local law enforcement between 2012 and 2014. The Proud Boys of Alabama officially stated on Telegram
regarding Tarrio, "We reject and disavow the proven federal informant,
Enrique Tarrio, and any and all chapters that choose to associate with
him."
Portland, Oregon march
On August 23, 2021, the Proud Boys held a rally in Portland, Oregon, where they clashed with antifa counter-demonstrators. Alan Swinney, a Proud Boy from Texas, attended the George Floyd
march in Portland, Oregon where he "calmly and dispassionately used or
threatened force" by spraying marchers with mace, shooting random people
with a paint ball gun, (causing one marcher to lose an eye) and
threatening others with a loaded gun. He was found guilty of attempted
assault, second-degree unlawful use of mace, and pointing a firearm and
was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Florida
Several members of the Proud Boys have served on the Miami-Dade
Republican Executive Committee. Proud Boys have frequently participated
at conservative events in Florida. Other Proud Boys in Florida have run
for local office. Proud Boy James Hoel was elected to the Sarasota County Republican Executive Committee in 2022.
California
On June 12, 2022, a group identified as Proud Boys by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office stormed a children's Drag Queen Story Time event at the San Lorenzo
Library. Members of the Drag Queen Story Hour described the group as
reportedly "extremely aggressive", who "totally freaked out the kids" by
shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs during the event. Sheriff's
office is investigating the attack as a possible hate crime.
Split with neo-Nazis
In June 2023, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism reported
that 10 Proud Boy chapters, mainly sympathetic to neo-Nazi ideas, split
with the national organization after a fight broke out on June 25
between a dozen members of the Proud Boys and the neo-Nazi Rose City
Nationalists.
Trump conviction
Multiple chapters of the Proud Boys condemned the Conviction of Donald Trump.
A telegram message from one chapter simply said "War." in response to
the conviction, while another called for supporters to respond and
fight, also referencing Francisco Franco.
Response
Government
United States
In late November 2018, an internal memo from the Clark County Sheriff's Office showed that the FBI
had designated the Proud Boys an extremist group, but it later
clarified that only certain members were extremist threats with ties to
white nationalism.
In 2019, the 22-page Violent Extremism in Colorado: a Reference Guide for Law Enforcement from the Colorado Information Analysis Center (the state's version of the DHS) and the Colorado Department of Public Safety
was released, with the organizations discussing the Proud Boys under
the "White Supremacist Extremism" heading. In coverage from The Guardian,
it was reported that member organizations of the national network of
counter-terrorist centers had issued warnings about the Proud Boys. Calling Proud Boys a "threat to Colorado", the guide related them to neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division and how violent clashes in 2018 with the Rocky Mountain Antifa
ended in the arrest of two members of the Proud Boys. Guidance about
the Proud Boys in the report involved describing them as "a dangerous
white supremacist group", as a white supremacist extremist threat, and
with a "concern that white supremacist extremists will continue
attacking members of the community who threaten their belief of
Caucasian superiority".
Also in 2019, the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) compiled a Special Event Threat Assessment
of potential dangers to the Austin Pride Parade. The ARIC identified
the Proud Boys as being associated with a "growing backlash against
Pride Month" which has emerged in the form of the straight pride
movement, noting that a June 2019 transgender pride event in Seattle,
Washington was disrupted by the "alt-right Proud Boys organization".
Canada
Bill Blair,
Canada's minister of public safety and emergency preparedness,
announced in January 2021 that Canada was considering designating the
Proud Boys a terrorist organization.
On January 25, 2021, the House of Commons of Canada unanimously passed a motion
calling on the government "to use all available tools to address the
proliferation of white supremacist and hate groups, starting with
immediately designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity."
On February 3, 2021, the Proud Boys were officially designated as a terrorist entity in Canada.Bill Blair, the Minister of Public Safety added 13 new groups
(including four ideologically motivated violent extremist groups,
Atomwaffen Division, the Base, the Russian Imperial Movement, and the
Proud Boys) to the Criminal Code list of terrorist entities.
Section 83.01(1) of the Canadian criminal code
defines a terrorist entity as "a) an entity that has as one of its
purposes or activities facilitating or carrying out any terrorist
activity, or b) a listed entity, and includes an association of such
entities." A listed entity means an entity on a list established by the Governor in Council under section 83.05. The Cabinet of Canada can list an entity on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness if the Governor in Council
is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that (a) the
entity has knowingly carried out, attempted to carry out, participated
in or facilitated a terrorist activity; or (b) the entity has knowingly
acted on behalf of, at the direction of or in association with an entity
referred to in paragraph (a).
Under section 83 of the Criminal Code, it is an indictable offense to provide use or possess property for terrorist purposes.
As a result of the listing, no person in Canada or Canadian outside
Canada can knowingly deal with the property, provide financial services
or facilitate any transaction for the group.
Financial institutions cannot process payments or offer loans to known
members, and are required to report property or transactions to
regulators. The listing does not mean the group is banned or that membership is a crime.
Membership of the Proud Boys is not criminalized. Providing property or
financial services to a listed entity is a crime, which makes paying
membership dues to the group a terrorism offense in Canada. Purchasing
Proud Boys merchandise could be a criminal act, and travel restrictions
may apply to people associated with the group.
Additionally, participation and contribution where the purpose of this
participation is to enhance the latter's ability to facilitate or carry
out a terrorist activity is also criminalized. Such behavior includes
recruitment of trainees, crossing an international border, and providing
or offering to provide skill or expertise.
Proud Boys Canada announced that it was dissolving on May 2, 2021, and denied that it was a terrorist or white supremacy group. Analysts cautioned that the group may opt to rebrand within Canada and noted that one Proud Boys chapter based in Hamilton, Ontario, started to use the name "Canada First".
New Zealand
In late June 2022, Police CommissionerAndrew Coster and Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern designated the Proud Boys and another far right group called The Base
as terrorist organizations. As a result of the terror designation,
anyone with property or financial dealings with these organizations face
prosecution and up to seven years imprisonment under the Terrorism
Suppression Act.
Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit
Although he had supposedly cut his ties with the Proud Boys by November 2018, stepping down as chairman, McInnes filed a defamation lawsuit in February 2019 against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in federal court in Alabama over the SPLC's designation of the Proud Boys as a "general hate" group. The SPLC took the lawsuit "as a compliment" and an indication that "we're doing our job."
On its website, the SPLC said that "McInnes plays a duplicitous
rhetorical game: rejecting white nationalism and, in particular, the
term 'alt-right' while espousing some of its central tenets" and that
the group's "rank-and-file [members] and leaders regularly spout white
nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They
are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have
appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings like the
Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville." McInnes is represented by Ronald Coleman. In addition to defamation, McInnes claimed tortious interference with economic advantage, "false light invasion of privacy" and "aiding and abetting employment discrimination." The day after filing the suit, McInnes announced that he had been re-hired by the Canadian far-right media group The Rebel Media. The SPLC filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April 2019.
Lawsuits
On May 17, 2019, Bill Burke of Ohio filed a $3million
lawsuit against the Proud Boys, Kessler, and multiple other people and
groups associated with the Unite the Right rally. Burke was seriously
injured in the August 2017 Charlottesville car attack which followed the event.
The 64-page initial complaint alleges that the named parties "conspired
to plan, promote and carry out the violent events in Charlottesville".
According to Burke, his physical and mental injuries have led to "severe
psychological and emotional suffering".
In 2017, Kyle Chapman, nicknamed "Based Stickman" after the 2017 Berkeley protests, formed a paramilitary wing of the Proud Boys called the Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights (FOAK). Alt-right figure Augustus Sol Invictus acted as FOAK's second-in-command until he left the group.
Canadian chapters
Following the attack on the United States Capitol, the Ottawa and Manitoba chapters shut down. On May 2, 2021, Proud Boys Canada announced on the Proud Boys USA channel on Telegram that it has "officially dissolved".
Symbolism
Members of the Proud Boys can be identified by their use of black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirts, American flags, MAGA hats, and military armor. Members often carry guns. An ironic catchphrase used by Proud Boys is uhuru, which means 'freedom' in the Swahili language.
During the 2021 attack on the United States Capitol, the Proud Boys shifted to wearing blaze orange hats and all-black attire.
Association with Fred Perry clothing
Proud Boy in a Fred Perry polo and MAGA hat at a neo-Confederate rally in 2019
Since the early days of the group, Proud Boys have worn black and yellow polo shirts of the British clothing brand Fred Perry on McInnes' suggestion. The brand, having previously been negatively associated with skinheads and the British National Front in the 1970s,
issued several public statements distancing themselves from the beliefs
of the Proud Boys, and calling on members to stop wearing their
clothing.
In 2017, Fred Perry's CEO John Flynn denounced the affiliation with the Proud Boys in a statement to CBC Radio,
saying: "We don't support the ideals or the group that you speak of. It
is counter to our beliefs and the people we work with."
The shirts have not been sold in the United States since September
2019. In September 2020, the retailer announced that it will not sell
them in the United States until association with Proud Boys has ended.
MAGA hats
Proud Boys commonly wear red MAGA hats to rallies, often alongside Fred Perry black and yellow polo shirts.
6MWE
By December 15, 2020, Proud Boy members were being photographed
wearing apparel featuring the antisemitic, Neo-Nazi slogan "6MWE". The acronym means "6million wasn't enough", referring to the number of Jewish Holocaust victims. The slogan was accompanied by an Eagle symbol used by the Fascist government of Italy supported by Nazi Germany.
The image, which spread on Twitter, prompted the Anti-Defamation
League to declare that "Proud Boys' Bigotry is on Full Display"
On a January 7, 2021, MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell incorrectly reported that image had been taken during the January 6 Capitol Attack; However, a fact check done by The Forward confirmed that the image had been taken at an earlier Proud Boys gathering at the Capitol in December 2020.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_49415700288.jpg)
.jpg)
_(cropped_to_gallows).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_01.jpg)
