The Proud Boys have recently been dragged back into the spotlight amid the riots and mayhem that have swept across the United States following the death of George Floyd. Once again, they are being smeared and falsely accused of taking part in activities they either had no part in at all, or are pinned for inciting violence without a whiff of evidence.
The Proud Boys is a men’s club founded by Gavin McInnes that has been relentlessly maligned by the media, the DNC, and the justice system. Though they have been accused of a litany of crimes, their real sin is unapologetic pride. It appears that only the left can be proud these days. It is verboten to be proud of America, the West, history, and of course, President Donald Trump. If you dare cross that line, you become a homophobic, anti-Semitic racist even if you are a Jewish black man who happens to be gay.
The most recent accusation against the Proud Boys came by way of the Daily Caller, who published a piece under an anonymous byline saying that the Proud Boys—a so-called “far-right extremist” group previously referred to as “white nationalists”— jumped a lone man and smashed his phone on June 15 outside the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ). The Achilles heel of the Daily Caller’s smear piece is right there in the story for everyone to see, which says that “while the reason for the confrontation that took place… remains unclear, two Daily Caller reporters arrived on the scene just as the Proud Boys were attacking a lone male. The group took his phone and smashed it to pieces, and as the man fought to retrieve it he was repeatedly beaten about the head and face.”
If it is unclear as to the “reason for the confrontation that took place,” then there is no legitimacy in drawing a conclusion for lack of information. The Daily Caller reporters made up a story based on limited video evidence, which appears to be the norm these days. The outlet never for a moment considered the possibility that the lone man could have instigated what turned into him getting his ass kicked just before the footage started rolling. It is not just the left-leaning media that is out to demonize the Proud Boys, but it has now become an angle used by middle-of-the-road conservative outlets cucking to the left’s political narrative.
Another recent example of the Proud Boys being unjustly smeared in the media has to do with DeJuan Young, who was shot inside CHAZ (later renamed CHOP, for Capitol Hill Occupied Protest) and proceeded to place the blame on the “Proud Boys or KKK” through a TikTok video without providing a description of the attacker or any other corroborating evidence. Young’s moronic accusation went viral on social media and largely went uncontested. It was only after this video was posted that Young was identified as one of Raz Simone’s cronies who assaulted Scriberr News reporter, Kalen D’Almeida.
That is just it: The Proud Boys have been used as a scapegoat by a variety of media outlets and far-left extremist groups to explain acts of violence that have taken place across the country for the past few years despite there being no evidence to substantiate their outrageous claims. The media has successfully managed to make the narrative that the Proud Boys are a group of neo-Nazi instigators more palatable for the illiterate and intellectually bankrupt members of the far-left who are more than willing to ostracize any group that does not subscribe to their impressively narrow worldview.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has played a pivotal role in how people interpret what the Proud Boys do and what they stand for. The Proud Boys were designated as a hate group by the SPLC in 2018, characterizing the group as one that spouts “white nationalist memes and maintain[s] affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric.”
The idea that “white nationalist memes” exist is patently absurd, as many political memes (I’m thinking of those that generated within 4Chan) are deliberately transgressive in order to get a rise out of those who take it too seriously. This is where the idea of an “internet troll” comes in. The people who accuse any group of using “white nationalist memes” have missed the joke, as the joke is completely at their expense.
The anti-Muslim and misogynistic charges can be dispelled pretty quickly. Some conflate a criticism of Islam with hatred of Muslims—these are not the same things, and it would take an especially smooth-brained person to believe the criticism of one person’s worldview is synonymous with hatred of that individual. And as far as misogyny goes, the Proud Boys are an all men’s club, just as sororities in the US are an all women’s affair. It has absolutely nothing to do with literally hating or denigrating women. The fact is that men’s clubs were ubiquitous from the Industrial Revolution to the 1980’s until Gloria Steinem-type feminists decided Fred and Barney joining the Water Buffalos was somehow an affront to their cause. Only a few of these clubs remain, such as the Masons and the Knights of Columbus, and it is rare to find a member under 65 years of age.
Finally: there is no evidence to support the lazy assertion that the Proud Boys have a relationship with “known extremists.” The apparent “proof” of these allegations usually includes an ex-Proud Boy featured in a photo with a bad man. If a McDonald’s employee is featured in a photo with a Nazi, does that make McDonald’s racist? The Proud Boys proudly publish their bylaws that conduct their club (Article V, Section 1 (b)). Though none of these accusations are substantive, these politically-charged terms attract eyeballs and prey upon the credulity of people who are unwilling to research the validity of the claims for themselves.
As a response to SPLC labeling the Proud Boys a hate group, Gavin McInnes filed a lawsuit against them for defamation in early 2019, saying the label has cost him business opportunities and access to certain platforms. This has almost certainly been the case, as McInnes has been banned from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and PayPal. He is not the only one who has taken the SPLC to task for wrongly designating people or groups as arbiters of hate. Maajid Nawaz of the Quilliam Foundation sued the SPLC in 2018, and received $3.375 million in settlements. There is an immigration group that has filed a RICO lawsuit against the SPLC over the “hate” label. The organization has come under a lot of scrutiny lately, with people saying that it even aids in people carrying out violent crimes. Shortly after Gavin’s suit was filed, founder of the SPLC, Morris Dees, was fired, and the president stepped down, as did the head of legal and their top researcher. The SPLC is currently running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Other accusations hurled at the Proud Boys is that they are, inter alia, racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, and neo-Nazis. But the Proud Boys have black people, Cuban people, Chinese people, Jewish people, gay people, Bernie Sanders supporters, and members of many other groups within their ranks. Under their tenets, the Proud Boys website reads: “All that is required to become a Proud Boy is that a man declare he is “a Western chauvinist who refuses to apologize for creating the modern world.” We do not discriminate based upon race or sexual orientation/preference. We are not an “ism”, “ist”, or “phobic” that fits the Left’s narrative. We truly believe that the West Is The Best and welcome those who believe in the same tenets as us.”
Seems pretty straightforward, right?
Apparently not. Two members of the Proud Boys—Maxwell Hare and John Kinsman—are now serving four years in prison for what the authorities have called “gang activity,” despite members of Antifa initiating the violence. None of the Antifa members involved in the dispute faced any charges, and none of them pressed charges against Hare or Kinsman. The scuffle lasted around seventeen seconds, and not a single person was seriously injured. In what world is this kind of behavior worth four years in prison? That very same night, a mob of Antifa members brutally attacked a journalist and stole his equipment. They had all charges dropped and walked out of court laughing.
Appeals for the Proud Boys members are predicted to take place this month, according to McInnes.
This is not the first time Antifa has started violence without having to pay for their actions. This manifested most clearly when Andy Ngo was brutally assaulted in the summer of 2019, resulting in a torn earlobe and brain bleed. Ngo announced earlier this month that he would be moving forward in suing Rose City Antifa—a prominent Antifa group out of Portland, Oregon.
Ngo’s lawsuit has been bolstered by President Donald Trump’s intent to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. Though nothing has come of this yet, the last month has seen vandalism, arson, burglary, and assault perpetrated by Antifa and its sympathizers makes a good case for the Trump administration to seriously consider moving forward with this plan.
The media has consistently failed to address and condemn the real perpetrators of violence and hate in this country: Antifa and Black Lives Matter. These two groups are exclusively represented by those who identify with far-left political ideologies, which appear to be in vogue at the moment. Black Lives Matter, for example, has overtly publicized its anti-Semitic views amid the death of Floyd. Antifa knocked one man’s teeth out for defending an older man who was carrying an American flag, and recently took part in an anti-Semitic event called the “Day of Rage.” A total of seventeen people were killed during the first two weeks of the riots alone, and none of these lost lives have been given their due by the mainstream media.
The white supremacist neo-Nazi archetype is the boogeyman that keeps unreasonable people up at night, believing these fringe types are lying in wait around every corner. People have convinced themselves that the world is plagued by people who want to kill black people and send Jews to the gas chambers. There is no question that white supremacist neo-Nazis exist, but they are such a small group that they are utterly inconsequential.
The Proud Boys do not stifle free speech and throw rocks through buildings when someone shows up for a speaking engagement, but far-left extremists do. The Proud Boys do not go around shooting policemen, but far-left extremists do. The Proud Boys do not tear down statues and take to the streets chanting anti-Semitic rhetoric, but far-left extremists do. The Proud Boys do not initiate fights, but far-left extremists do. The Proud Boys do not try to censor, limit, and alter speech, but far-left extremists do. As McInnes says: “We don’t go to their things. They come to our things.”
Ann Coulter sums up the above in her most recent piece, writing that “in 2018, the night before Vice magazine founder McInnes gave a speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club on the Upper East Side, antifa smashed the club’s historic windows and spray-painted the anarchist “A” on the front door. Sadly for antifa, when they showed up to shut down the event the next day, they were met by McInnes’ Proud Boys — a multiracial social club for patriotic men who don’t mind a good scrap.”
The Proud Boys are not some far-right extremist group, but rather a racially-diverse collective of men who believe the “West is Best,” and are willing to stand up and fight against anyone or anything that threatens Western values, which includes but is not limited to testing the chins of Antifa members and sending Black Lives Matter supporters into an emotional meltdown with transgressive memes.
– COLLIN JONES