Anti-Lockdown Rallies Are Providing an Opening for the Proud Boys and Other Far-Right Extremists
Protests against state-imposed stay-at-home orders have exploded across the country and attracted a wide array of right-wing supporters, including the Proud Boys.
The hate group appeared at a rally in Ohio on April 13. In the days that followed, their members attended demonstrations in Michigan, Colorado, Nevada and Florida. On April 20, in the midst of growing and conspiratorial accusations that the novel coronavirus was , members of the Vice City Proud Boys demonstrated outside of Miami City Hall with a banner that read 鈥淔---聽the Chinese Government.鈥
This past Saturday, Proud Boys in 聽the Miami Museum of Art and Design. Members in Portland also held a 鈥渇lag wave鈥 to protest Oregon鈥檚 social distancing measures.
For nearly four years, the Proud Boys have used and street marches 鈥 frequently punctuated by outbursts of violence 鈥 to draw attention to their brand of far-right 鈥淲estern chauvinism.鈥 In the process, they have won the admiration of extremists and, in some cases, been by more mainstream branches of the right wing.
One of the qualities that makes the Proud Boys particularly dangerous is the they have been able to cultivate with the GOP. 鈥淭he Proud Boys鈥 lack of overtly racist symbols has given them a level of access to the Republican mainstream (as well as a free pass for militant street activism) that the Alt Right can only dream of,鈥 for Political Research Associates.
Unlike the Proud Boys rallies of the past, members of the group are unlikely to find antifascists聽to brawl with in the streets at anti-lockdown protests. They are also not the main organizers behind the early demonstrations 鈥 that designation belongs primarily to wealthy right-wing activists. Those include the , which draws in hundreds of thousands of dollars each year operating a number of pro-gun and anti-abortion groups, and the , which is linked to the family of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Even though the Proud Boys weren鈥檛 behind efforts to get the protests off the ground, they quickly realized their value. They are the perfect platform for the proto-fascist group to make the case that the will of a small minority of Americans 鈥 the hyper-individualistic 鈥減atriots鈥 who attend these rallies 鈥 should supersede democratic processes, and that individual desires should trump the collective public good. The protests also provide other benefits: the chance to launch their ideas into wider right-wing circles, further cement their status as core members of the Trump coalition, build relationships with local politicians and gain attention from outlets like Fox News.
Fox News, which has in the past addressing the Proud Boys鈥 appetite for violence, has been one of the largest cheerleaders behind the demonstrations. (Tucker Carlson once with members of the Proud Boys, while Sean Hannity has Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes on his show more than 20 times.) The media conglomerate the 鈥淢ichiganders against excessive quarantine鈥 Facebook page and its Lansing rally the day before protesters hit the street. The page gained roughly 80,000 new followers in the day after Fox published their story. During her show, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro on air, 鈥淎 lot of people are very proud of you.鈥 During another segment, the network displayed an image showing viewers the locations of all upcoming rallies. The network notoriously holds sway with President Trump, who posted a tweet calling on his followers to 鈥渓iberate鈥 states run by Democratic governors only aired a story on the protests. called the protesters 鈥済reat people.鈥
Wealthy far-right donors and the right-wing media are helping to amplify what is, in reality, a small movement. ( only 10% of voters favor ending social distancing to stimulate the economy.) In the process, they are elevating some of the most extreme figures who operate within these circles. Proud Boys and others have recognized the opportunity being handed to them and, on top of attending large-scale anti-lockdown rallies organized on Facebook, are now launching protests of their own.
On April 19, the Proud Boys announced a plan called 鈥淥peration: Reopen Florida鈥, which included a series of rallies around the state on April 25 to 鈥渟tand for freedom & against the democrat driven unconstitutional lockdown.鈥 The promotional poster for the event, posted on the group鈥檚 Telegram channel and the Facebook page of Proud Boy president Enrique Tarrio, directs you to the group鈥檚 online store. There, you can sign up for emails to hear more about their upcoming events and purchase clothing and other items that provide financial support for the Proud Boys.
'Liberty or Boogaloo'
If anything demonstrates just how politicized the debate over social distancing has become, it is how the Proud Boys chose to frame a widely circulated photo of nurses blocking cars of anti-lockdown protestors at an intersection in downtown Denver. 鈥淎ntifa Healthcare Workers Clash with Anti-Lockdown Protesters in Colorado,鈥 a headline on the website of a Florida Proud Boys chapter reads.
In the Proud Boys vernacular, labelling someone a member of Antifa 鈥 a loosely knit network of antifascist activists 鈥 is to label them the enemy. You could go and purchase a 鈥淒EATH TO ANTIFA鈥 T-shirt at the Proud Boys online store, but they are currently sold out. 鈥淒EATH TO COMMIES鈥 shirts, though, are still available.
The Proud Boys see antifascists, who their founder Gavin McInnes labeled the 鈥減aramilitary wing鈥 of the Democratic Party, as representatives of the left writ large. Their long-running demonization of the left has allowed them to justify their own acts of violence (most notably an October 2018 brawl in New York City that ) and to push the idea of an impending 鈥渂oogaloo鈥 鈥 a meme referring to a coming civil war or, in some more extreme circles, a blatant reference to race war.
The Proud Boys were among the earliest far-right adopters of the boogaloo meme. After getting kicked off Facebook early last year, they under the page name 鈥淲est is the Best II: Electric Boogaloo.鈥 The meme has now been widely adopted within far-right and antigovernment circles. At an anti-lockdown protest in New Hampshire, men toting rifles and dressed in tactical gear 鈥淟iberty or Boogaloo鈥 flyers.
The notion that the pandemic could accelerate the country鈥檚 descent into a civil war has gained currency on the right, evidenced by the growth of groups with names like 鈥淏oogaloo Enthusiasts: CORONAPOCALYPSE鈥 on Facebook. 鈥淒id Trump just call for boogaloo?鈥 one of the group鈥檚 members wrote after the president called on his followers to 鈥淟IBERATE VIRGINIA鈥 on Twitter. 鈥淲ell, you heard the man! Let鈥檚 go bois,鈥 another responded.
The Proud Boys are connected to the broader extreme right in other ways 鈥 namely, that they promote a hierarchical society in which some people are more deserving of inclusion in civil society than others. Women, they argue, are best suited for domestic labor and should be subservient to men. Trans people, they鈥檝e written on their Telegram channel, are 鈥渕entally ill gays.鈥
They malign Muslims in particularly ugly ways. While not using the term, the groups has made nods to the 鈥済reat replacement鈥 theory 鈥 the central animating idea of the white nationalist movement, which posits that white people around the Western world are being systematically replaced by non-white immigrants and Muslims in particular. In the Proud Boys Telegram chat (which has since been deleted), a Proud Boy in Minnesota posted that 鈥淭he DFL [Democratic Farmer Labor Party] began importing Mexicans in 1965,鈥 and by the 1990s, he wrote, there was a 鈥淪omali and Islamic invasion. Almost 60 years of chain migration and breeding, to the point that criminals, communists, socialists, and jihadists are up to and in our state鈥檚 highest offices.鈥
Elsewhere in the chat, he referred to Somali immigrants as 鈥淎nimals. Just Animals walking around on two feet.鈥 One of the group administrators expressed sympathy for Europeans who had to contend with 鈥渇------ sand people鈥 from 鈥渢he shit holey part of the world.鈥
Political ambitions
At least two members of the Proud Boys are currently seeking political office. Enrique Tarrio, the president of the Proud Boys who in 2017 attended the 鈥淯nite the Right鈥 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is for U.S. Congress in Florida. Nick Ochs, a Hawaii Proud Boy, announced on April 18 that he is running for State Representative. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a novelty campaign from an internet person,鈥 he said on Telegram. 鈥淚鈥檝e been active in local politics for years and this is winnable.鈥
A Proud Boy also on the Fennville, Michigan, city commission. Controversy broke out in another part of Michigan when members of the Proud Boys the Traverse City Board of Commissioners in favor of declaring the county a 鈥淪econd Amendment sanctuary鈥 鈥 a trend that has across the country and inspired massive demonstrations.
On Telegram, the Proud Boys claim that although Michigan is the only state where a Proud Boy openly serves in a public office, 鈥渨e have alot [sic] of PBs secretly serving all over.鈥
The Proud Boys鈥 participation in anti-social-distancing rallies only serves to further cement their connection to the mainstream, as evidenced by the way Mike Detmer, a Republican Congressional candidate for Michigan鈥檚 8th District, jumped to their defense after he was photographed with two of its members at the Lansing demonstration. Enrique Tarrio apparently reached out to Detmer after he received pushback for posing with the hate group, prompting Detmer to post a Facebook video describing the Proud Boys as a group fighting for 鈥渁ll the things that you value in your Constitution.鈥 In an accompanying post, he listed and described all of the official Proud Boys tenets, including 鈥淩einstating a Spirit of Western Chauvinism.鈥
The Proud Boys see the anti-lockdown rallies as part of a larger political project. In a post announcing the three 鈥淩eOpen Florida鈥 rallies, Tarrio wrote, 鈥淭his is where the battle for the 2020 election starts.鈥
Photo illustration by 人兽性交
