Proud Boys: Difference between revisions

Proud Boys
	File:Proud Boys flag.png
Named after	"Proud of Your Boy"
Formation	2016; 8 years ago
Founder	Gavin McInnes
Type	Far-right men's organization that promotes political violence
Region	International
Key people	Enrique Tarrio (Chairman)
Website	OfficialProudBoys.com

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Revision as of 11:56, 8 December 2018

The Proud Boys is a far-right organization that admits only men as members and promotes political violence.^[7] It has a presence in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.^[10] The group sees men, especially white men, and Western culture as under siege; their views have elements of white genocide conspiracy theory.^[14] The group was started in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder and former commentator Gavin McInnes. Proud Boys emerged as part of the alt-right, but in early 2017, McInnes began distancing himself from the alt-right, saying the alt-right's focus is race while his focus is what he defines as "Western values". This re-branding effort intensified after the Unite the Right Rally.^[15]^[16] The organization has been described as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center^[17] and NPR's The Takeaway.^[18] While the group claims it does not support white supremacist views, its members often appear at racist rallies and events.^[19] The organization glorifies violence, and members participate in violence at events it attends; SPLC has called it an "alt-right fight club."^[22]

In late November 2018, it was widely reported that the FBI classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism;^[5] however, two weeks later, an FBI official denied that it was their intent to classify the entire group in this manner.^[23] The official said that their intent was simply to characterize the possible threat from certain members of the group.^[24]

The group takes its name from the song "Proud of Your Boy", which was cut from the Disney film Aladdin, in which the title character apologizes to his mother.^[25]^[26]

The organization

Gavin McInnes co-founded Vice Magazine in 1994 but was pushed out in 2008 after several years of turmoil following a New York Times interview in which he talked about his pride in being white. 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 Globe and Mail.^[27]

The Proud Boys organization was launched in September 2016, on the website of Taki's Magazine, a far-right publication for which Richard Spencer was executive editor.^[28] It existed informally before then as something like a McInnes fan club, and the first gathering of the Brooklyn chapter in July 2016 resulted in a brawl in the bar where they met.^[25] The name mocks the song Proud of Your Boy from the soundtrack for the film Aladdin, which had become a running theme on McInnes' podcast hosted by Anthony Cumia's Compound Media. McInnes had heard the song at a children's talent show in December 2015 and took immediate dislike to the perceived "fake, humble, and self-serving" nature of the lyrics.^[25]

The organization has been described as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center^[17] and NPR's The Takeaway,^[18] and Spencer, McInnes, and the Proud Boys have been described as hipster racists by Vox^[29] and Media Matters for America.^[30]^[31] McInnes says victim mentality of women and other historically oppressed groups is unhealthy: "There 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".^[27] Their views have elements of white genocide conspiracy theory.^[11]^[12]^[13]

In early 2017, McInnes began distancing himself from the alt-right, saying their focus is race and his focus is what he calls "Western values"; the rebranding effort intensified after the Unite the Right Rally.^[15]^[16]^[32] In 2018, McInnes was saying that the Proud Boys were part of the "new right".^[33]

The organization glorifies political violence against leftists, re-enacting political assassinations, wearing shirts that praise Augusto Pinochet's murders of leftists, and participating directly in political violence.^[19]^[20] McInnes has said "I want violence, I want punching in the face. I'm disappointed in Trump supporters for not punching enough."^[19]^[28] He's also said "We don't start fights [...] but we will finish them."^[34] Heidi Beirich, the Intelligence Project director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that this form of intentional aggression was not common among far-right groups in the past; she said: "'We're going to show up and we're intending to get in fights,' that's a new thing."^[35] In August 2018, Twitter shut down the official account for the group, as well as McInnes' account, under its policy prohibiting violent extremist groups; at the time, the group's profile photo was a member punching a counter-protestor.^[36] In late November 2018, it was widely reported, based on an internal memo of the Clark County, Washington Sheriff's Office, that the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.^[5] Two weeks later, however, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Oregon office denied that the FBI made such designations, ascribing the error by the Sheriff's Office to a confusion over the FBI designating the group as such, as a designation made by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and other outside agencies.^[23]

The organization is opposed to feminism and promotes gender stereotypes in which women are subservient to men.^[27]^[28] The organization has a female-member-only auxiliary wing named "Proud Boys' Girls" that supports the same ideology.^[37]

Some men who are not white have joined the Proud Boys, drawn by the organization's advocacy for men, anti-immigrant stance, and embrace of violence.^[38]

Membership

The Proud Boys say they have an initiation process that has four stages and includes hazing. The first stage is a loyalty oath, the second is getting punched until the person recites pop culture trivia, the third is getting a tattoo and agreeing to not masturbate, and the fourth is getting into a major fight "for the cause."^[20]^[26]^[39]^[40]^[41]

The Proud Boys have adopted a black Fred Perry polo shirt with yellow piping as their unofficial uniform.^[42] Fred Perry was previously associated with the Mod subculture and skinhead groups,^[42]^[43] including the British National Front.^[44] 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."^[43]

Women and transgender men are not allowed in the organization.^[45]^[28]

The Proud Boys discourages its members from masturbating and watching pornography so as to motivate them to get "off the couch" and meet women.^[41] McInnes added no masturbation to the group's core ideas after interacting with Dante Neo, a relationship expert and comedian with a podcast on Riotcast, who came to serve as a sort of "pope" for this idea within the organization.^[46]

Leadership

Gavin McInnes founded the group and served as its leader. In November 2018, shortly after news broke that the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalists – a claim later disavowed by an FBI official, who said they only intended to characterize the potential threat from some members of the group^[24] – McInnes said that his lawyers had advised him that quitting might help the nine members being prosecuted for the incidents in October. During the announcement he defended the group, attacked the reporting about it, said white nationalists don't 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", and said it was a "stepping down gesture, in quotation marks".^[47]^[48]

As of November 2018^[update], the group said its leaders were 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.^[49]^[3] Jason Lee Van Dyke, who was the organization's lawyer at the time, had been briefly named as chairman to replace Gavin McInnes when he left the group, 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.^[50]

Events

New York University

In February 2017, McInnes arrived at New York University to give a speech, accompanied by a group of about ten Proud Boys. Minor scuffles broke out between Proud Boys and Antifa protesters, and the NYPD said that eleven people faced criminal charges. One member of the Proud Boys encouraged others to fight the "faggots wearing black that won't let us in", and was later arrested for punching a reporter from DNAinfo.^[51]^[52]^[19]

2017 Berkeley protests

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.^[35]

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, and Oath Keepers; many of these people travelled to Berkeley from other parts of the country. The rally was counter-protested and violence broke out. 21 people were arrested.^[53]^[54]

2017 Islamberg

In 2017 Proud Boys joined a caravan to ride through Islamberg, New York, a community of around twenty black Muslim families who moved upstate to escape the racism and violence of New York City, and which has been a target of conspiracy theories from various islamophobic hate groups and right-wing terrorist plots.^[55]^[56]^[57]

Portland protests

In 2017 and 2018 Proud Boys participated in several rallies organized by Patriot Prayer in Portland, Oregon and nearby Vancouver, Washington.^[58]^[59]^[60] Scenes of violence from one of these rallies was turned into a sizzle reel for the Proud Boys and was circulated on social media.^[2]^[61]

Disruption of Halifax Indigenous Peoples' Protest

On July 1, 2017, five Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members who self-identified as Proud Boys disrupted a protest organized by indigenous activists, in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Canada Day; Halifax had been debating how to deal with statues of Edward Cornwallis, who had placed a bounty for scalps of Mi'kmaq people after they had rebelled against the British. The Proud Boys carried the Canadian Red Ensign flag from the time of Cornwallis and one of them said to the indigenous protestors, "You are recognising your heritage and so are we."^[8] General Jonathan Vance, the head of the CAF, later stated that the five would be removed from training and duties as the military investigated and reviewed the circumstances surrounding their actions. General Vance also indicated that the members could possibly be released from the CAF permanently.^[62]^[63] Rear Admiral John Newton, Commander of the Maritime Fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy, was "personally horrified" by the incident and said the Proud Boys were "clearly a white supremacist group and we fundamentally stand opposed to any of their values."^[64]

On August 14, 2017, the CAF confirmed that the investigation had been concluded.^[65] Later that month, Newton announced that four of the members had returned to duty, stating that the CAF had taken "appropriate measures to address individual shortcomings" and warning, "Any further inappropriate behavior could result in their termination from the Canadian Armed Forces."^[66]

Unite the Right rally

In June, McInnes disavowed the then-upcoming Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.^[27] However, Proud Boys were at the August 2017 alt-right event, which was organized by white supremacist Jason Kessler.^[67] Kessler had joined the Proud Boys some time before organizing the event.^[68]^[69]^[70] McInnes said he had kicked Kessler out after his views on race had become clear.^[27] After the rally, Kessler accused McInnes of using him as a "patsy" and said: "You're trying to cuck and save your own ass."^[16] 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.^[71]

2018 Metropolitan Republican Club

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 murder of Inejiro Asanuma, the leader of the Japanese Socialist Party; a captioned photograph of the actual murder had become a meme in alt-right social media.^[28]

Anti-fascist activists had started protesting outside the club before the event and had reportedly engaged in vandalism. Following cross-provocations between both opposing sides, a protestor threw a bottle at Proud Boys, resulting in a fight.^[56] NYC police present at the protest reportedly did not respond.^[28]^[72] The police later said they had evidence to charge nine Proud Boys and three antifa members with counts of rioting, assault, and attempted assault.^[19]

On November 21, shortly after news broke that the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalists – a claim later disavowed by an FBI official, who said they only intended to characterize the potential threat of some members of the group^[24] – McInnes said that his lawyers had advised him that quitting might help the nine members being prosecuted for the incidents in October and he said "this is 100% a legal gesture, and it is 100% about alleviating sentencing", and said it was a "stepping down gesture, in quotation marks".^[47]^[48]

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.^[49]^[73] 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.^[74]^[75] 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.^[49] 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.^[3]

Subgroups

Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights

In 2017, Kyle Chapman, nicknamed "Based Stickman" due to the aforementioned wooden dowel incident, formed a paramilitary wing of the Proud Boys called the "Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights" (FOAK).^[35] Alt-right figure Augustus Sol Invictus acted as FOAK's second-in-command until he left the group.^[17]

References

^ Colleen Long, 11 arrests at NYU protest over speech by 'Proud Boys' leader, Associated Press (February 3, 2017): "a far-right men's organization"
^ ^a ^b ^c Wilson, Jason (July 14, 2018). "Who are the Proud Boys, 'western chauvinists' involved in political violence?". the Guardian.
^ ^a ^b ^c Merlan, Anna. "The Proud Boys' Hilarious Slow-Motion Disintegration Continues". Splinter. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
^ Lowry, Rich (October 19, 2018). "The Poisonous Allure of Right-Wing Violence". National Review. Retrieved November 13, 2018. McInnes is open about his glorification of violence. In a speech, he described a clash with Antifa outside a talk he gave at NYU last year: "My guys are left to fight. And here's the crucial part: We do. And we beat the crap out of them." He related what a Proud Boy who got arrested told him afterward: "It was really, really fun." According to McInnes: "Violence doesn't feel good. Justified violence feels great. And fighting solves everything."
^ ^a ^b ^c Wilson, Jason (November 19, 2018). "FBI now classifies far-right Proud Boys as 'extremist group', documents say". The Guardian.
^ "FBI considers Proud Boys extremists with white-nationalist ties, law enforcement officials say". Washington Post. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
^ ^[2]^[4]^[5]^[6]
^ ^a ^b "'Proud Boys' back in Canada military after crashing indigenous ceremony". BBC News. August 31, 2017.
^ Gilbert, Simon (July 30, 2017). "Right wing activist warns people to avoid "immigrant city" Coventry which he claims is "awful"". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
^ ^[8]^[9]
^ ^a ^b Brown, Doug (December 12, 2017). ""Proud Boys" Founder Wants to "Trigger the Entire State of Oregon" by Helping Patriot Prayer's Joey Gibson win the Oregon Person of the Year Poll (Updated)". Portland Mercury.
^ ^a ^b Moser, Bob (October 6, 2017). "Why the "Alt-Lite" Celebrated the Las Vegas Massacre". The New Republic.
^ ^a ^b Walters, Joanna (August 17, 2017). "Neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and internet trolls: who's who in the far right". the Guardian.
^ ^[11]^[12]^[13]
^ ^a ^b Marantz, Andrew (July 6, 2017). "The Alt-Right Branding War Has Torn the Movement in Two". The New Yorker.
^ ^a ^b ^c Woodhouse, Leighton Akio (September 21, 2017). "After Charlottesville, the American Far Right is Tearing Itself Apart". The Intercept. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Proud Boys". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Gavin McInnes and the Proud Boys: Misogyny, Authoritarianism, and the Rise of Multiracial White Supremacy". The Takeaway: WNYC Studios. October 16, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Weill, Kelly; Shallwani, Pervaiz (October 15, 2018). "NYPD Looks to Charge 9 Proud Boys With Assault for Manhattan Fight". The Daily Beast.
^ ^a ^b ^c Morlin, Bill (April 25, 2017). "New Alt-Right "Fight Club" Ready for Street Violence". Southern Poverty Law Center.
^ Carter, Mike (May 1, 2017). "Seattle police wary of May Day violence between pro- and anti-Trump groups". Seattle Times. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
^ ^[19]^[20]^[21]
^ ^a ^b Bernstein, Maxine (December 4, 2018) "Head of Oregon’s FBI: Bureau doesn’t designate Proud Boys as extremist group" The Oregonian
^ ^a ^b ^c Barnes, Luke (December 7, 2018) "FBI does U-turn on Proud Boys ‘extremist’ label" ThinkProgress
^ ^a ^b ^c Disser, Nicole (July 28, 2016). Gavin McInnes and his Proud Boys want to make white men great again. Bedfordandbowery.com
^ ^a ^b Ellis, Emma Grey (May 22, 2017). "Your Handy Field Guide to the Many Factions of the Far Right, from the Proud Boys to Identity Evropa." Wired.com. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Houpt, Simon (August 18, 2017). "Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes's path to the far-right frontier". Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Coaston, Jane (October 15, 2018). "The Proud Boys, the bizarre far-right street fighters behind violence in New York, explained". Vox.
^ Hemmer, Nicole (December 2, 2016). "Tweedy racists and "ironic" anti-Semites: the alt-right fits a historical pattern". Vox.
^ Theel, Shauna (June 5, 2014). "Meet The Hipster Racist Fox News Guest Attacking Neil deGrasse Tyson". Media Matters for America.
^ Osnos, Evan (February 6, 2017). "Trump Supporters at the DeploraBall". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
^ Campbell, Jon (February 15, 2017). "Gavin McInnes Wants You to Know He's Totally Not a White Supremacist". Village Voice.
^ Chung, Frank (August 21, 2018). "Right-wing activist heading to Australia". Northern Star.
^ "Proud Boys Founder: How He Went From Brooklyn Hipster to Far-Right Provocateur".
^ ^a ^b ^c Feuer, Alan; Peters, Jeremy W. (June 2, 2017). "Fringe Groups Revel as Protests Turn Violent". The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
^ Roettgers, Janko (August 10, 2018). "Twitter Shuts Down Accounts of Vice Co-Founder Gavin McInnes, Proud Boys Ahead of 'Unite the Right' Rally". Variety.
^ "The Boy and Girls of white nationalism: 'Proud' groups labeled 'extremist' in newly revealed FBI files". NBC News. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
^ Gupta, Arun (September 4, 2018). "Why Young Men of Color Are Joining White-Supremacist Groups". The Daily Beast.
^ Proud Boys: ‘Willing to go places and disrupt things’ Toronto Sun (July 6, 2017)
^ Gilmour, David (September 7, 2017). "Meet the Proud Boys, the pro-men, anti-masturbation enemy of 'antifa'". The Daily Dot. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Hall, Alexandra (November 26, 2017). "Controversial Proud Boys Embrace 'Western Values,' Reject Feminism And Political Correctness". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Flammia, Christine (July 10, 2017). "Fred Perry Wants Nothing to Do With Its Alt-Right Fanboys." Esquire.
^ ^a ^b Fred Perry chairman says he wants nothing to do with Gavin McInnes and his Proud Boys CBC Radio (July 7, 2017)
^ Jake Wolff, The Proud Boys are the latest losers to try to co-opt the classic polo GQ(July 11, 2017)
^ Cosgrove, Jaclyn. "The Proud Boys walk into a bar. A fight breaks out. Now a Los Angeles bar deals with the consequences". latimes.com. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
^ "Transcript 626: White Haze". This American Life. December 14, 2017. Audio
^ ^a ^b Wilson, Jason (November 22, 2018). "Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes quits 'extremist' far-right group". The Guardian.
^ ^a ^b Prengel, Kate (November 21, 2018). "Gavin McInnes Says He Is Quitting the Proud Boys [VIDEO]". Heavy.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c Crosbie, Jack (November 28, 2018). "The Proud Boys Just Accidentally Doxxed Their New 'Elders'". Splinter. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
^ Wilson, Jason (November 30, 2018) "Gavin McInnes: founder of far-right Proud Boys denied Australian visa – report" The Guardian
^ Offenhartz, Jake (February 3, 2017). "Anti-Fascist Protesters Clash With 'Proud Boys' As Gavin McInnes Speaks At NYU". Gothamist. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ Campbell, Jon (February 15, 2017). "Gavin McInnes Wants You to Know He's Totally Not a White Supremacist". Village Voice. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
^ St. John, Paige; Rocha, Veronica (April 27, 2017). "Conservative and alt-right groups gather for 'free speech' rally in Berkeley". Los Angeles Times.
^ John, Paige St. (April 28, 2017). "For many at violent Berkeley rally, it wasn't really about Trump or free speech: They came to make trouble". Los Angeles Times.
^ Obeidallah, Dean (July 14, 2017). "Trump-Supporting Bigots to Target Upstate New York Muslims". The Daily Beast.
^ ^a ^b Feuer, Alan; Winston, Ali (October 19, 2018). "Founder of Proud Boys Says He's Arranging Surrender of Men in Brawl". The New York Times. Driving in a caravan toward Islamberg, an Islamic community in upstate New York, Mr. Young discussed his impressions of Muslims on the video. "They are literally a virus," he said. "They eat and feed off the host nation until it's dead."
^ Coutts, Sharona (August 28, 2017). "How Hate Goes 'Mainstream': Gavin McInnes and the Proud Boys - Rewire.News". Rewire.News.
^ Wilson, Jason (August 5, 2018). "Portland far-right rally: police charge counterprotesters with batons drawn". the Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
^ Matarrese, Andy (September 10, 2017). "Protesters clash in Patriot Prayer demonstration on Vancouver waterfront". The Columbian.
^ Flaccus, Gillian (August 3, 2018). "Portland prepares for right-wing, anti-fascist rallies". Associated Press via The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on August 4, 2018.
^ Neiwert, David (October 15, 2018). "Patriot Prayer again brings violence to Portland with 'flash march' downtown, rounding out a weekend of far-right violence". Southern Poverty Law Center.
^ Tasker, John Paul. "Head of Canada's Indigenous veterans group hopes Proud Boys don't lose their CAF jobs". CBC. CBC. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
^ Elizabeth McMillan (July 4, 2017). "Forces members who disrupted Indigenous rally face 'severe consequences'". CBC. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
^ Roache, Trina (July 5, 2017). "The military apologizes while a grandmother demands action on "Proud Boys" behavior". APTN National News. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
^ Previl, Sean (August 14, 2017). "Investigation into 'Proud Boys' incident in Halifax concluded: military official". Global News. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
^ "No criminal or disciplinary charges for Canadian military "Proud Boys" – group now back on the job". Ottawa Citizen. August 31, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
^ Yager, Jordy (August 23, 2017). "Living Next Door to a White Supremacist". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
^ Strickland, Patrick (August 13, 2017). "Unite the Right: White supremacists rally in Virginia". Al Jazeera. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
^ Porter, Tom (August 12, 2017). "Who are the alt-right leaders and provocateurs addressing the Charlottesville white nationalist rally?". Newsweek. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
^ Lind, Dara (August 12, 2017). "Unite the Right, the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, explained". Vox. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
^ "Charlottesville Beating Suspect Is Guilty". njtoday.net. May 3, 2018.
^ Southall, Ashley; Pager, Tyler (October 14, 2018). "Proud Boys Fight at G.O.P. Club Spurs Calls for Inquiry; Cuomo Blames Trump". The New York Times.
^ Campbell, Andy (November 26, 2018). "The Proud Boys Are Imploding". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
^ Campbell, Andy (November 14, 2017). "Lawyer Suing Anti-Fascist For Calling Him Nazi Sent Death Threats, Racial Slurs On Twitter". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
^ Campbell, Andy (September 19, 2018). "Proud Boys Lawyer Arrested For Lying To Cops, Can Still Practice Law". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2018.

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 The '''Proud Boys''' is a [[far-right]] organization that admits only men as members and promotes [[political violence]].{{refn|<ref name=Guardian2018/><ref name="NatRev">{{cite news |last1=Lowry |first1=Rich |title=The Poisonous Allure of Right-Wing Violence |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/gavin-mcinnes-proud-boys-poisonous-violence/ |work=National Review |quote=McInnes is open about his glorification of violence. In a speech, he described a clash with Antifa outside a talk he gave at NYU last year: “My guys are left to fight. And here’s the crucial part: We do. And we beat the crap out of them.” He related what a Proud Boy who got arrested told him afterward: “It was really, really fun.” According to McInnes: “Violence doesn’t feel good. Justified violence feels great. And fighting solves everything.”  |date=19 October 2018 |accessdate=November 13, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="fbi" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/20/fbi-says-proud-boys-have-white-nationalist-ties-law-enforcement-officials-say/|title=FBI considers Proud Boys extremists with white-nationalist ties, law enforcement officials say|website=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2018-11-29}}</ref>}} It has a presence in the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], and the [[United Kingdom]].{{refn|<ref name=indigenous>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41116175|title='Proud Boys' back in Canada military after crashing indigenous ceremony|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=31 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="Gilbert">{{cite news|last1=Gilbert|first1=Simon|title=Right wing activist warns people to avoid "immigrant city" Coventry which he claims is "awful"|url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-immigration-right-wing-mcinnes-13400542|accessdate=8 February 2018|publisher=Coventry Telegraph|date=30 July 2017}}</ref>}} The group sees men, especially white men, and Western culture as under siege; their views have elements of [[white genocide conspiracy theory]].{{refn|<ref name=PortlandMerc/><ref name=NewRepublic/><ref name=GuardianSurvey/>}}  The group was started in 2016 by [[Vice Media]] co-founder and former commentator [[Gavin McInnes]]. Proud Boys emerged as part of the [[alt-right]], but in early 2017, McInnes began distancing himself from the alt-right, saying the alt-right's focus is [[Race and ethnicity in the United States|race]] while his focus is what he defines as "Western values". This re-branding effort intensified after the [[Unite the Right Rally]].<ref name="Marantz"/><ref name="Woodhouse">{{cite news|last1=Woodhouse|first1=Leighton Akio|title=After Charlottesville, the American Far Right is Tearing Itself Apart|url=https://theintercept.com/2017/09/21/gavin-mcinnes-alt-right-proud-boys-richard-spencer-charlottesville/|accessdate=10 January 2018|publisher=The Intercept|date=21 September 2017}}</ref> The organization has been described as a [[hate group]] by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]<ref name=SPLC/> and [[NPR]]'s ''[[The Takeaway]]''.<ref name=Takeaway/> While the group claims it does not support [[white supremacist]] views, its members often appear at racist rallies and events.<ref name=Beast2018/> The organization glorifies violence, and members participate in violence at events it attends; SPLC has called it an "alt-right fight club."{{refn|<ref name=Beast2018>{{cite news |last1=Weill |first1=Kelly |last2=Shallwani|first2=Pervaiz |title=NYPD Looks to Charge 9 Proud Boys With Assault for Manhattan Fight |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/nypd-looks-to-charge-9-proud-boys-with-assault-for-manhattan-fight |work=The Daily Beast |date=15 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=SPLC2/><ref name="Carter"> {{Cite web |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/seattle-police-wary-of-may-day-violence-between-pro-and-anti-trump-groups/  |title=Seattle police wary of May Day violence between pro- and anti-Trump groups |last=Carter |first=Mike |work=Seattle Times|date=May 1, 2017 |accessdate=November 13, 2018}}</ref>}}
-In late November 2018, it was reported that the FBI classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism;<ref name="fbi" /> however, two weeks later, an FBI official denied that it was their intent to classify the entire group in this manner.<ref name=oregonian>Bernstein, Maxine (December 4, 2018) [https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2018/12/head-of-oregons-fbi-bureau-doesnt-designate-proud-boys-as-extremist-group.html "Head of Oregon’s FBI: Bureau doesn’t designate Proud Boys as extremist group"] ''[[The Oregonian]]''</ref> The official said that their intent was simply to characterize the possible threat from certain members of the group.<ref name= barnes />
+In late November 2018, it was widely reported that the FBI classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism;<ref name="fbi" /> however, two weeks later, an FBI official denied that it was their intent to classify the entire group in this manner.<ref name=oregonian>Bernstein, Maxine (December 4, 2018) [https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2018/12/head-of-oregons-fbi-bureau-doesnt-designate-proud-boys-as-extremist-group.html "Head of Oregon’s FBI: Bureau doesn’t designate Proud Boys as extremist group"] ''[[The Oregonian]]''</ref> The official said that their intent was simply to characterize the possible threat from certain members of the group.<ref name= barnes />
 The group takes its name from the song "[[Proud of Your Boy]]", which was cut from the [[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Disney film ''Aladdin'']], in which the title character apologizes to his mother.<ref name="Disser">Disser, Nicole (July 28, 2016). [http://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/07/gavin-mcinnes-and-his-proud-boys-want-to-make-white-men-great-again/ Gavin McInnes and his Proud Boys want to make white men great again]. Bedfordandbowery.com</ref><ref name=Wired1>Ellis, Emma Grey (May 22, 2017).  [https://www.wired.com/2017/05/field-guide-far-right/ "Your Handy Field Guide to the Many Factions of the Far Right, from the Proud Boys to Identity Evropa."]  ''Wired.com''.  Retrieved October 16, 2018.</ref>
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 In early 2017, McInnes began distancing himself from the alt-right, saying their focus is race and his focus is what he calls "Western values"; the rebranding effort intensified after the [[Unite the Right Rally]].<ref name="Marantz">{{cite news |last1=Marantz |first1=Andrew |title=The Alt-Right Branding War Has Torn the Movement in Two |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-alt-right-branding-war-has-torn-the-movement-in-two/ |work=The New Yorker |date=July 6, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Woodhouse" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Jon |title=Gavin McInnes Wants You to Know He’s Totally Not a White Supremacist |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/02/15/gavin-mcinnes-wants-you-to-know-hes-totally-not-a-white-supremacist/ |work=Village Voice |date=February 15, 2017}}</ref>  In 2018, McInnes was saying that the Proud Boys were part of the "new right".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chung |first1=Frank |title=Right-wing activist heading to Australia |url=https://www.northernstar.com.au/news/proud-boys-founder-gavin-mcinnes-heading-to-austra/3498904/ |work=Northern Star |date=August 21, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
-The organization glorifies [[political violence]] against leftists, re-enacting political assassinations, wearing shirts that praise [[Augusto Pinochet]]'s murders of leftists, and participating directly in political violence.<ref name=Beast2018 /><ref name=SPLC2 /> McInnes has said "I want violence, I want punching in the face. I'm disappointed in Trump supporters for not punching enough."<ref name=Beast2018 /><ref name=VoxMetro /> He's also said "We don't start fights [...] but we will finish them."<ref>{{cite news |title=Proud Boys Founder: How He Went From Brooklyn Hipster to Far-Right Provocateur |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/nyregion/proud-boys-gavin-mcinnes.html |language=en}}</ref> Heidi Beirich, the Intelligence Project director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that this form of intentional aggression was not common among far-right groups in the past; she said: "'We're going to show up and we're intending to get in fights,' that's a new thing."<ref name=nyt /> In August 2018, Twitter shut down the official account for the group, as well as McInnes' account, under its policy prohibiting violent extremist groups; at the time, the group's profile photo was a member punching a counter-protestor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Roettgers |first1=Janko |title=Twitter Shuts Down Accounts of Vice Co-Founder Gavin McInnes, Proud Boys Ahead of ‘Unite the Right’ Rally |url=https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/twitter-shuts-down-accounts-of-vice-co-founder-gavin-mcinnes-proud-boys-ahead-of-unite-the-right-rally-1202902397/ |work=Variety |date=10 August 2018}}</ref> In late November 2018, it was reported, based on an internal memo of the [[Clark County, Washington]] Sheriff's Office, that the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.<ref name="fbi">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/19/proud-boys-fbi-classification-extremist-group-white-nationalism-report?CMP=share_btn_tw |date=19 November 2018|website=[[The Guardian]]|last=Wilson|first=Jason|title=FBI now classifies far-right Proud Boys as 'extremist group', documents say}}</ref>  Two weeks later, however, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Oregon office denied that the FBI made such designations, ascribing the error by the Sheriff's Office to a confusion over the FBI designating the group as such, as a designation made by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and other outside agencies.<ref name=oregonian />
+The organization glorifies [[political violence]] against leftists, re-enacting political assassinations, wearing shirts that praise [[Augusto Pinochet]]'s murders of leftists, and participating directly in political violence.<ref name=Beast2018 /><ref name=SPLC2 /> McInnes has said "I want violence, I want punching in the face. I'm disappointed in Trump supporters for not punching enough."<ref name=Beast2018 /><ref name=VoxMetro /> He's also said "We don't start fights [...] but we will finish them."<ref>{{cite news |title=Proud Boys Founder: How He Went From Brooklyn Hipster to Far-Right Provocateur |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/nyregion/proud-boys-gavin-mcinnes.html |language=en}}</ref> Heidi Beirich, the Intelligence Project director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that this form of intentional aggression was not common among far-right groups in the past; she said: "'We're going to show up and we're intending to get in fights,' that's a new thing."<ref name=nyt /> In August 2018, Twitter shut down the official account for the group, as well as McInnes' account, under its policy prohibiting violent extremist groups; at the time, the group's profile photo was a member punching a counter-protestor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Roettgers |first1=Janko |title=Twitter Shuts Down Accounts of Vice Co-Founder Gavin McInnes, Proud Boys Ahead of ‘Unite the Right’ Rally |url=https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/twitter-shuts-down-accounts-of-vice-co-founder-gavin-mcinnes-proud-boys-ahead-of-unite-the-right-rally-1202902397/ |work=Variety |date=10 August 2018}}</ref> In late November 2018, it was widely reported, based on an internal memo of the [[Clark County, Washington]] Sheriff's Office, that the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.<ref name="fbi">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/19/proud-boys-fbi-classification-extremist-group-white-nationalism-report?CMP=share_btn_tw |date=19 November 2018|website=[[The Guardian]]|last=Wilson|first=Jason|title=FBI now classifies far-right Proud Boys as 'extremist group', documents say}}</ref>  Two weeks later, however, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Oregon office denied that the FBI made such designations, ascribing the error by the Sheriff's Office to a confusion over the FBI designating the group as such, as a designation made by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and other outside agencies.<ref name=oregonian />
 The organization is opposed to feminism and promotes [[Gender_role#Gender_stereotypes|gender stereotypes]] in which women are subservient to men.<ref name=globeandmail /><ref name=VoxMetro/> The organization has a female-member-only auxiliary wing named "Proud Boys' Girls" that supports the same ideology.<ref name=nbc20181121>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boy-girls-white-nationalism-proud-groups-labeled-extremist-newly-revealed-n938546|title=The Boy and Girls of white nationalism: 'Proud' groups labeled 'extremist' in newly revealed FBI files|work=NBC News|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en-US}}</ref>
-Some men who are not white have joined the Proud Boys, drawn by the organization's [[Men's rights movement|advocacy for men]] and anti-illegal immigration stance. According to a lawyer for the group’s leader, Gavin McInnis, the group promotes an America-first nationalism that is less pro-white than it is anti-Muslim, anti-illegal immigrant, and anti-Black Lives Matter. He said the group is a multi-racial fraternity with thousands of members across the world.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gupta |first1=Arun |title=Why Young Men of Color Are Joining White-Supremacist Groups |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-young-men-of-color-are-joining-white-supremacist-groups |work=The Daily Beast |date=4 September 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
+Some men who are not white have joined the Proud Boys, drawn by the organization's [[Men's rights movement|advocacy for men]], anti-immigrant stance, and embrace of violence.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gupta |first1=Arun |title=Why Young Men of Color Are Joining White-Supremacist Groups |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-young-men-of-color-are-joining-white-supremacist-groups |work=The Daily Beast |date=4 September 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
 ===Membership===
@@ Line 131: / Line 131: @@
 [[Category:Alt-right]]
 [[Category:Far-right politics in the United States]]
-[[Category:White nationalism in the United States]]
 [[Category:Men's organizations]]
 [[Category:Organizations established in 2016]]
+[[Category:White nationalism in the United States]]