Monthly Archives: June 2021

Daniel Berry, a former member of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys, says he stays up each night to keep an eye on his home after receiving death threats for his plans to speak to USA TODAY.(Photo: Jasper Colt, USA TODAY)

KENOSHA, Wis. Daniel Berry said hewas searching for camaraderie.

The 40-year-old Army veteran yearned to forge the sort of bonds he had in the military: a brotherhood of like-minded menwatching one anothers backs, holding one another up,united in a common goal.

Last year, Berry said, he remembered a guy at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall askinghim if hehad heard of the Proud Boys. The group was vocal in its support for then-President Donald Trump, whom Berry had voted for. Members called themselves "Western chauvinists" and said they welcomed true men. That sounded about right for Berry, who considers himself a dyed-in-the-wool patriot.

Hedid some internet searches and sent off an email. Almost immediately, he received a link to an encrypted chatroom.

So began Berry's journey into the dark world of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys.

Berry, along with amember of the Wisconsin Proud Boys and another former recruit,told USA TODAY the groupis a den of racism andantisemitism.Moving upwithin the group, they said, is dependent onsadistically bullying potential members and promotingwhite supremacist talking points.

Daniel Berry joined the Wisconsin Proud Boys in search of camaraderie, but instead found racism, antisemitism and sadistic bullying. USA TODAY

Berryand the two other men,who asked not to be named because they fear violent repercussions from members ofthe Proud Boys, provided a unique view into an organization thathas become a magnetfor racists and violent extremists. They spoke and emailed with USA TODAY independently, providingscreenshots of chatrooms, photos,memes and audio recordingsthat backed up their claims.

Their accounts revealthe face of a groupthat masks itselfas a harmless, multiracial drinking club, one that reachesnew membersby preaching free speech and patriotism. At least in Wisconsin, the men said, the Proud Boys stands less for brotherhood and more for the racial hatred espoused byoutmoded organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations.

Initially it was truly a brotherhood, Berry said. But what I experienced was more like a cult.

Since its inception in 2016, the Proud Boys has been a hard group among the far right to pin down. Experts agreeit's an extremist group masquerading as a benign boys club.

The Proud Boys espouses a vague political ideologyof unfettered free speech and nationalism, expressed throughoffensive language, controversial memes and shocking imagery. Its public messaging is rife withinside jokes and trollingthat experts said is designed to hidethegroup's true intentions and draw in recruits.

Enrique Tarrio flashes the "OK" sign, sometimes used as a symbol of white supremacy, as hundreds gather during a Proud Boys rally at Delta Park in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 26, 2020, to show support for President Donald Trump and condemn violence during Black Lives Matter and antifa protests.(Photo: MARANIE R. STAAB, AFP via Getty Images)

In 2018, the FBI categorized the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism. The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates thegroup has43chapters in 29 states.

Proud Boys leaders such as national chairman HenryTarrio, who goes by Enrique and self-identifies as Afro-Cuban, insist it'snot a white supremacist group. They point to nonwhite members as evidence.

"We're a little rough around the edges, but we're definitely not what they make us out to be,"Tarrio told Business Insider last year.

At least 25 people associated with the Proud Boys are among the more than 400 arrested in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a USA TODAY analysis.

Proud Boys have been charged with felonies stemming from their street fights, often with anti-fascist, or antifa, protesters.

"I wouldn't call them terrorists.They're street fighters," said Daryl Johnson,a security consultant and former senior analyst for domestic terrorism at the Department of Homeland Security.

He and other experts said law enforcement, and the public, shouldbe wary of the Proud Boys, which saw a huge influx in members in 2019 and 2020.The groupis increasingly likely to be an incubator for extremists who could graduate from street brawls to more serious violence, Johnson said.

"They're one of these environments where people get immersed and indoctrinated," he said. "They're not one of these groups that's going to stand back holding signs;they're looking for a fight, and they could serve as a radicalization facilitator."

Police detain a member of the Proud Boys after a skirmish with other protesters near the White House and Black Lives Matter Plaza on Dec. 12, 2020.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)

Berry and the two other men described theirfirst contact with the Wisconsin Proud Boysidentically.Each said hereceived a link to join a private group on the encrypted messaging serviceTelegram.

Berry and the other recruit both white, middle-aged conservatives said they hoped the chatroom would be a place to discuss issues such a border security and gun rights.

Berry said he was looking for somewherehe could be himself: a safe space to discuss conservative and libertarian politicsoutside the confines of his home, where his views oftenclashed with those of his left-leaning wife.

Daniel Berry, a former member of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys, says he was looking for a place to discuss conservative and libertarian politics.(Photo: Jasper Colt, USA TODAY)

None of the prospective members trustedthe newsmedia, which they said falsely painted the Proud Boysasextremists and white supremacists.

Berry said media portrayals of the groupreminded him of his experience in college, where professors and fellow students scornedhim for being in the military. Berry's time in the Armydidn't matchtheirstereotypes,he said, and he didn't think they'd ring true for the Proud Boys, either.

Participants in the chatroom didn't use their real names, but upon joining, applicants wererequired to send Proud Boys leadersa copy of their state-issued ID cards. This was ostensibly so leadership could check their criminal records,but the men who spoke with USA TODAYnoted itgave the group power over them.

That chatroom, all three men said, is fairly mild. Senior membersdropped in, they said, to encouragerecruits to attend a vetting meet, usually at a rural Wisconsin bar.

Thirty to 50 Proud Boys and pledgesshowed up at those events, urgedin advance not to wear the groups signature black and gold colors, Berry and the other men said.Each applicant was called to a table, where he was grilled by leaders andsenior members of the Proud Boys on why he wanted to join.

Berry and the other menwho spoke with USA TODAY made it past this stage.They were given a link to a second Telegram chatroom.

That's where, they said, things got nasty.

The second chatroom was swamped with every type of shockingcontent imaginable, the mensaid, and participants posted photos and videos of people getting killed and seriously injured. Users swapped the most explicit pornography they could find, often featuring people defecating. The images flowed in a septic tide ofracist, antisemitic andhomophobic banter.

Members of the Proud Boys march near the White House and Black Lives Matter Plaza on Dec 12, 2020.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)

One of the men who spoke with USA TODAYdescribedthe content: "Videos of Muslims being set on fire or blown up? Check. Memes intended to laugh at Holocaust-era Jews? Check. Pictures of women being raped? Check.Memes poking fun at raped women? Check. I could go on, but you get the point.

The images and memes, examples of which were shared with USA TODAY,didn't drive away Berry or the other two men. They said they'veheard plenty of racist andhomophobic comments in their mostly white communities.

Berry said the chapter president had told him the chatroom would be rough, like a hazing ritual.Only those with the toughest skin, who weren'toffended by anything, would survive, he said.

Berry said he believed itall played into the ethos of the Proud Boys as a group of tough guys fighting for free speech and independence.

Protesters and counterprotesters, including dozens calling themselves Proud Boys, gather in front of the White House on July 4, 2019, before President Donald Trump's speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.(Photo: Hannah Gaber, USA TODAY)

Proud Boys recruits in Wisconsin not only had to run the gantlet of the chatroom, hesaid, but they had toparticipate if they wanted to advance. Anyone who expressed discomfort with the conversation was viciously ridiculed.

They would constantly say, Fit in or f---off, Berry said, referring to a motto popular with the Proud Boys. And so it was in your best interest, if you want to stay with the group, to just roll with what they were saying, and basically get on board with that inflammatory stuff.

As he and other Proud Boys recruits attended more meetings, they said, theyfound that many of the men wholly embraced the racism and antisemitism behind the code words and inside jokes.

In January,after pleading not guilty to felony chargesincluding reckless homicide, Kyle Rittenhouse went forbeers with his mom at a bar called Pudgy's near Kenosha.

ThereRittenhouse, who is accused of shooting and killing two men and injuring a third during Black Lives Matter protestslast summer, met with Wisconsin Proud Boys, according to theMilwaukee Journal Sentinal.

Kyle Rittenhouse, left, and other armed men claimed to be protecting property owners from arson and theft during protests Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis.(Photo: Adam Rogan, The Journal Times via AP)

TheProud Boys serenaded Rittenhouse with a rendition of the song"Proud of Your Boy," which was written for the animated Disney movie "Aladdin" and is the origin of the Proud Boys' name.

That the Proud Boys embraced Rittenhouse speaks volumes about the group, Berry and the others said.

Despite the Proud Boys claims of being open to all ethnicities, the Wisconsin chapter is overwhelmingly white, Berry and the other men said. Berryremembered just one man who wasn't white at Proud Boys gatherings. Hesaid the ethos of the group was clear: Get on board with racism or leave.

It was clear to Berry and the two others thatthe only way to rise through the ranks to become an official Proud Boy was to signal allegiance to antisemitism and white supremacy.

The ones that were definitely racist at meets, when we talked with them, it was patently obvious that they were racist they moved up, Berry said.

Pudgy's, the bar where Kyle Rittenhouse was seen on Jan. 5, 2021, taking pictures with Proud Boys and flashing the "OK" symbol that has been used as a symbol of white supremacy, had just a handful of regulars at the bar on a recent Thursday morning.(Photo: Jasper Colt, USA TODAY)

The recruitingprocess the mendescribed is similar to ones used by white supremacist organizations for the past couple of decades, saidAmarnath Amarasingam,an assistant professor in the School of Religion at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, who researches terrorism and radicalization.

Like most extremist groups in the USA, the Proud Boys primarily attracts youngwhite men who believe they're joining a powerful political force that will fix the problems in the world.

Amarasingam said the Proud Boys, like other racist groups,cloaks its ideology to draw in recruits, then reveals its racist side once members are reeled in.

"They've been confusing researchers and academics for years," Amarasingam said. "I wouldn't fault a random person who thought, based on their public rhetoric, based on the diversity of the group, that they're not actually white supremacists."

Attorney General Merrick Garland is focused on domestic terrorism.(Photo: Pool photo by Win McNamee)

Last week, U.S.Attorney General Merrick Garlandannounced a "National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism" thatfocuses on homegrown extremist groups.

Though it doesn't mention the Proud Boys, the strategy says the recruitment of impressionableyoung men into hate groups via the internet is a major and growing threat to thepublic.

As Berry and others learned, the expectationto engage in racist,hateful banter served another purpose within the Proud Boys Telegram chatroom.

The recruitswere told they would be kicked out ifthey took screenshots of thechatrooms. Berry and the others said theylearned thatthe group's leaders storedscreenshots and videos that they could use against the men.

Berry said he stuck it out inthe chatroomfor weeks. He acknowledged that heengaged in racist and homophobic conversations, figuring they would eventually subside toreveal thebrotherhood he had been searching for.

It didnt.

Thirty days in, Berry, like other Proud Boys applicants, was required to record a videoreciting one of the groups credos: I, Daniel Berry,am a proud Western chauvinist who refuses to apologize for creating the modern world.

Enrique Tarrio, left, chairman of the Proud Boys, wears a shirt expressing support for Derek Chauvin in a counterprotest against a remembrance of George Floyd in Miami on May 25, the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death at the hands of police officer Chauvin.(Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA, AFP via Getty Images)

The video, which USA TODAY viewed,was the last stepin becoming a "First Degree" Proud Boy, Berry said. He waited for an invitation to be beaten into the group a ritual in which a circle of Proud Boys repeatedly punches a First Degree while herecites the names of five breakfast cereals.

Anyone who makesit through is a "Second Degree." (The highest level, Fourth Degree, is reserved for memberswho getinto a fight with a member of antifa.)

Its a big joke, but the last couple, apparently from what I understand, and definitely the one that I attended, have been more abusive, Berry said. It's not been, Hey, let's punch this guy because he's a brother. It's been, Hey, let's beat the crap out of this guy.

Berry never made it that far.

The atmosphere inside the vetting chatroom grew morealarming, Berry said, includingsadistic bullying that ended up with aprospective Proud Boyin a hospital.

All threemen interviewed for this story recalled with disgust the treatment of one recruit.

The man, known by the nickname Tony Gavin, became the Wisconsin Proud Boys whipping boy, Berry and the other men said. For weeks, they said, senior membersbullied the man incessantly,questioning his sexuality and mocking the fact that his wife has a disability. The abuse was delivered by text, memes and videos posted to Telegram.

Daniel Berry, a former member of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys, shows a tattoo on his leg memorializing his fallen military brothers.(Photo: Jasper Colt, USA TODAY)

The bullying got so bad that Tony was admitted to a hospital with a heart problem, Berry said.

They let him into that chat to make sure that everybody would gang up on him and see if the group coalesced around being a bully to this guy, Berry said. Once the entertainment part was gone, they kicked him out of the group, and they continued to terrorize him until he went to the hospital.

Around the same time, another Proud Boy posted a meme to the chatroom mocking rape victims. It wasn't the first, but it was particularly extreme. Berry decided hed had enough.

Far from the camaraderie he had come for, Berry said, he had found racism, sadism and bullying.

Like, where is your humanity? Where is your soul? he said. This is definitely a fake brotherhood.

Tarrio, the group'schairman,and others said the Proud Boys has always been opento nonwhites and people of every religion (except for Islam), and gay men are welcome.

Over text messages and on his Telegram channel, Tarrio claimed the meninterviewed by USA TODAY are not really Proud Boys and do not represent his group.

He declined to be interviewed for this story. So did the president of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys, who goes by "D-Bow the Viking." (None of the men interviewed knows hisreal name.)

A man is held back as Enrique Tarrio, back to camera, leader of the Proud Boys, uses a megaphone during a counterprotest in Miami at the commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the killing of George Floyd on May 25. Tarrio led a group expressing support of police officers. Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin led to global protests.(Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images)

Proud Boys founder Gavin McInness, who said he cut ties with the group, claimed that anybody espousing racism or homophobia isn't a true Proud Boy.

McInnesdeclined to answer questions in a brief phone call. In an email, he claimed that the accusations of the men who spoke with USA TODAY were falseand that reportingthem wouldmake the group more likely to be a haven for racists.

When you spotlight some dumb rumor about the club going full white nationalist, a much more sinister option arrives. Blacks and gays and Jews etc. go, I guess this club isnt for me, and leave, he wrote.Subsequently, bonafide white nationalists then become attracted to it. In other words, you are creating hate where it wasnt previously.

The men who spoke with USA TODAY don't know whether what they observed in the Wisconsinchapter reflects the movement as a whole, butthey warned that what happened could be a harbinger of widespread problems.

We are letting in and promoting way too many men who embody the very worst of this country, a Proud Boy wrote in an email. As the ranks of the racist members increase, the likelihood of promoting those who agree with that disgusting behavior is also increased."

Their whole joke is blurring the line between satire, humor, edge, and reality. I don't think a lot of them know where the line is, but they get pulled closer to it as a function of being in the group.

Samantha Kutner, a researcher who has studied the Proud Boys for years and founded Intuitive Threat Assessment, an agency specializing in intelligence on violent extremism, said the Wisconsin chapter doesn't appear to bean aberration.

Kutner, who has interviewed more than 20 current and former Proud Boys, saidthe organization hasleft behind any notions of egalitarianism or diversity.

Its true that for some Proud Boys, involvement might be just meeting up once a month with the boys and drinking and complaining about the wife and then going home, Kutner said. But when you look at the group as a whole, and itsaims, they are a violent, crypto-fascist, extremist organization.

The group's hierarchical structure andrecruitment process pushmembers further into the world of extremism, she said.

"As a function of the 'degree' system, you can become significantly more radicalized by the sheer exposure to the anti-trans, misogynistic, homophobic and antisemitic content," Kutner said.

"Their whole joke is blurring the line between satire, humor, edgeand reality," she said. "I don't think a lot of them know where the line is, but they get pulled closer to it as a function of being in the group."

The FBI says Dominic Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys, used a riot shield belonging to the U.S. Capitol Police to break open a window at the Capitol on Jan. 6.(Photo: U.S. Department of Justice)

Since the Capitol insurrection Jan. 6, there have been signs the Proud Boysis fragmenting. Aftera leadership battle last year,a faction split off to create an explicitly white supremacist group that calls itself the "Proud Goys."

Current and former members seldom speak to the media, making it hard to understand exactly where the group is headed. As the Wisconsin men attested, there may be good reason for that.

Since contacting USA TODAY, Berry has been publicly disavowed by the people who had invited him to become a brother.

In late May, a blurred copy of his driver'slicense was posted on the Wisconsin Proud Boys public Telegram channel. It was accompanied bya message posted by "D-Bow"deriding him and threatening to share videos Berry posted.

See more here:

They joined the Wisconsin Proud Boys looking for brotherhood. They found racism, bullying and antisemitism. - USA TODAY

With two groups of very different views set to host events in Centennial Plaza on Saturday, some fear conflict, out-of-town visitors

Though Sandy prides itself on its independence of the Metro area, it has not escaped unscathed by the social and political divides that have emerged nationwide over the past few years.

Those fissures came into sharp focus Saturday, June 26, with a rally by Universal Pentecostal Church Pastor Russell Collier, and an LGBTQ2SIA+ pride event by the Sandy student group Students Advocating for Equality (SAFE) planned. Both events are scheduled at Centennial Plaza, and people connected to the pride event are expressing concerns for their safety.

Some of those concerns were aired on June 21 during the Sandy City Council meeting. Students, parents and community members joined the hybrid meeting to ask the council to denounce the Proud Boys, a far-right organization described as a hate group by members of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.

Proud Boys have been attending events in Sandy since last year, most recently at the March 20 rallies in downtown Sandy where they came to allegedly support Collier as he exercised his First Amendment rights.

Multiple commentors mentioned the recent riot that broke out between Proud Boys and leftist protestors in Oregon City on June 18, sharing concerns that some of the people involved in the fight that took place in Clackamette Park have also attended events in Sandy.

"A lot of those people that were down rioting in Oregon City have attended numerous flag waves and other events in Sandy," claimed a citizen named Meg. "A lot of them have extensive criminal history and a couple are even still on probation for prior crimes related to their violent activities at allegedly peaceful rallies. They themselves have documented their crimes on social media, but I've witnessed their intimidation and threats personally, too."

Meg said she had attended the Have a Gay Day event hosted behind City Hall on March 20, and witnessed a group of self-proclaimed Proud Boys "patrol the park in packs, lurk on the sidelines of the Have a Gay Day event space and, at one point, stroll menacingly through the middle of a group of kids, telling everyone to 'F*** off. It's a free country.'"

"It was appalling to see armed out-of-town adult men intimidating local queer kids," she added. "How does that even happen in Sandy?"

Co-manager of SAFE Amaya (whose last name will be omitted for the minor's safety) also spoke to council, reading statements from herself and other students about the fear they've felt hosting public events in Sandy.

Amaya called the city out for "failing to condemn both the Proud Boys and the local church who harbors them."

"(At the Have a Gay Day event) it got to the point where people were afraid to cross the street and we were forced to hide behind City Hall to ensure our safety," Amaya recounted. "We should not be expecting to celebrate love and be met with hate. I'm 16 years old, and I should not have to fear adult men preaching against my existence and threatening my safety."

In an interview on June 22, Collier countered the insinuation that his church "harbors" Proud Boys by saying, "There are no Proud Boys in our congregation. Also, we are not a right-wing extremist organization threatening local LGBQIA+ youth."

Collier went on to say he does not decide who attends the rallies or flag waves that he attends or promotes.

"We are a free country," Collier said. "The LBGTQIA+ community cannot control who attends their events. It's a free country. We are still America."

He added that when he originally scheduled his rally for 1 p.m. June 26, he was unaware of the SAFE group's intentions for a pride event. Since finding out the two groups had laid claim to the plaza at the same time, Collier has rescheduled his event for 10 a.m. to noon the same day.

Complicating matters further, Saturday is expected to be the hottest day of the year thus far with temperatures approaching or exceeding 100 degrees.

A concern voiced by commentors in the June 21 council meeting and echoed by Collier is the lack of a permitting and reservation process for Centennial Plaza, which allows for conflicting events.

The city in 2020 intentionally forewent a permitting process for the plaza with the reasoning that it's a "public space." But now plans to establish a reservation process and fee beginning July 1.

But, until then, the plaza remains a first-come, first-served space.

"Whenever we were getting permits for our rallies in the past, I felt that was a good system," Collier said. "I have shared with the planning department, the city manager and the Sandy Police Department my concern about future events where multiple groups could want to use the plaza at the same time. And now that concern has become reality."

To date, Collier added that his rally "A Time and Place for Healing" has not received nearly as much of an online response as his March 20 "Celebration of the Heterosexual Family," which he speculates could mean fewer out-of-town visitors to the plaza.

"I'm not promoting any kind of Proud Boys involvement whoever comes comes," he said. "We have worked to accommodate the pride event. I'm trying to be very cooperative by moving the time. I personally don't have a concern about safety. And I do plan on going to their event to stand across the street with a couple of signs sharing my own message. I've never tried to incite violence at all. We do certainly speak what we believe."

Both groups were asked why they didn't reschedule for another day or location when realizing they'd double-booked the plaza.

Collier said he tries to host at least one event a month and June 26 was the last Saturday to do so in June. Amaya with SAFE said the group hoped to have a more public presence with their pride event, so they wished to stay at the plaza.

"We kind of had to weigh our options since we'd been advertising for a few weeks by (the time we realized the conflict)," Amaya added. "We considered moving back behind City Hall, but we specifically chose the plaza to be public and not appear like we're hiding."

Sandy Police Chief Ernie Roberts has confirmed that officers will be present in the plaza on Saturday to keep all in attendance safe.

"The police will be present at the event including officers working overtime shifts," City Manager Jordan Wheeler explained. "I asked the chief to reach out to the event organizers to hear their concerns and share how we police these situations."

We also have agreements with neighboring agencies for mutual aid assistance if needed."

In response to the people who voiced concerns during the council meeting, Wheeler said: "I thought it was moving and courageous of the students and parents (to express those concerns)."

Wheeler said the city of Sandy takes safety and security seriously, adding that no significant safety incidents have arisen from unpermitted use of the plaza.

He also said tensions have surfaced when multiple groups emerged during the pandemic when the city was not taking reservations for the plaza.

"Even with these situations our police department communicates with the event organizers to understand their plans and hopefully keep tensions down," Wheeler said. "In prior events, there have been verbal exchanges and other obscenities, but no physical altercations or crimes committed."

Going forward, Wheeler said the permitting process will help the city better manage these situations.

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Excerpt from:

Oregon LGBTQ groups fear Proud Boys will return to Sandy - Pamplin Media Group

The federal appeals court in Washington ordered the continued detention of two members of the Proud Boys accused of conspiring to instigate the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

A three-judge panel on Friday upheld an order by a lower court that the two extremist-group members, Joseph Biggs and Ethan Nordean, remain in custody as they fight charges that they helped orchestrate the riot.

The panel cited its decision in a separate case involving the bail status of the accused rioter Eric Munchel. That opinion drew a distinction between Jan. 6 rioters who only entered the building and those who engaged in violence or other serious crimes.

In contrast to the defendants in Munchel, the district court here found that appellants provided leadership and planning for the Proud Boys in connection with the events, the panel wrote. Appellants have not shown this finding was clearly erroneous, nor have they shown that the district court failed to consider conditions of release that could reasonably assure the safety of the community.

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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Proud Boys Ordered to Remain in Detention Over Jan. 6 Charges - Bloomberg

Six Proud Boys involved in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol may have plea deals in the works, according toThe Arizona Republic.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys told a D.C. federal judge on Thursday that they expect to have preliminary negotiations done just before going to trial, the newspaper reported. The talks are expected to take a few weeks.

The case involves the Proud Boys members who were charged in February with conspiring and coordinating to attack the Capitol.

William Chrestman, Christopher Kuehne and Louis Enrique Colon were arrested in Missouri. Siblings Cory and Felicia Konold were arrested in Arizona.

Another defendant, Ryan Ashlock of Kansas, was later charged with the other defendants.

Prosecutors alleged that the group coordinated their movements inside the Capitol and wore tactical gear during the riot.

They have been charged with conspiracy, unlawful entry, disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding.

Hundreds of people have been charged in connection with the riot that disrupted the certification of the Electoral College results for the 2020 election.

Several people have pleaded guilty in connection to their participation, including some affiliated with far-right groups like the Proud Boys.

Graydon Young, one of 16 defendants in the Justice Departments case against affiliates with the far-right Oath Keepers group, entered a guilty plea earlier this week to one count of conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding.

See the original post here:

Six Proud Boys involved in Capitol riot may have plea deals in the works: report | TheHill - The Hill

A man arrested by Seal Beach police after a road rage incident in which authorities allege he fired bear spray into a car with a family inside is a convicted felon arrested earlier this year during a violent altercation involving the Proud Boys.

Marcus Kelly, 43, was apprehended in Hemet on Sunday after Seal Beach police detectives identified him as the motorist involved in the June 14 attack on Pacific Coast Highway. Investigators believe the attack may be part of a pattern of incidents involving Kelly and have asked witnesses and victims to come forward.

Seal Beach Lt. Nick Nicholas said he could not release specifics about why they suspect there may be other attacks as it is an ongoing investigation. He said the department has no evidence that the June 14 attack was a hate crime.

In April, Fresno police arrested Kelly on suspicion of being a felon in possession of bear spray after a series of street confrontations that involved members of the extremist group the Proud Boys. Kelly was detained after officers intervened in the confrontations. Fresno Chief Paco Balderrama at the time said Kelly was wearing clothing consistent with the Proud Boys, although a department spokesman said the suspect denied any affiliation.

Seal Beach investigators acknowledged Wednesday that the person they had arrested and the suspect in the April incident are the same person.

The incident in Seal Beach began with a verbal altercation shortly before 2 p.m. on June 14 as two vehicles drove south on PCH. In an attempt to distance himself from Kellys vehicle, police said, the other driver turned off of PCH. But after that driver parked on Anderson Street, Kelly allegedly pulled up next to the vehicle and sprayed it and the driver with bear spray. According to detectives, the other drivers vehicle windows were down and the spray entered the passenger compartment. In addition to the driver, there was another adult in the vehicle, along with a child in the back seat.

All of the occupants suffered injuries, including eye and skin irritation from the highly concentrated aerosol spray. Kelly allegedly then fled southbound.

Several witnesses saw the attack, which was also partially captured on surveillance video. That helped Seal Beach police identify the suspect and his 2006 green Saturn, police said.

Kelly was arrested without incident and booked into the Orange County Jail on suspicion of assault and battery, unlawful use of pepper spray and felony child endangerment.

In the last year, Kelly has been seen protesting at Los Alamitos school district headquarters and at various rallies with known members of the Proud Boys and other extremist groups.

Seal Beach police say that anyone with information about incidents involving Kelly should contact Det. Bruno Balderrama at (562) 799-4100, Ext. 1109, or email him at bbalderrama@sealbeachca.gov.

Read more:

Suspect in bear spray attack linked to Proud Boys incident - Los Angeles Times

The Trudeau government has added two more right-wing extremist groups and an American neo-Nazi to its list of terrorist entities as it tries to counter the rise of white nationalist violence.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced Friday that the Three Percenters and Aryan Strikeforce will join the list alongside the Proud Boys, who were added in February after the storming of Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 6.

A 69-year-old white supremacist named James Mason, who senior intelligence officials describe as a lifelong neo-Nazi whose writings laid an ideological foundation for multiple terrorist groups, has also been placed on the proscriptive list.

Groups on Canadas terror roster, created after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, may have their assets seized, and there are serious criminal penalties for helping listed organizations carry out extremist activities.

Blair said the threat of white nationalist violence is a growing concern that has exploded into public view recently with tragedies such as the deadly attack against a Muslim family in London, Ont., earlier this month as well as a spike in other Islamophobic, antisemitic, anti-Asian and misogynist incidents.

These acts that have been taken over the past several weeks and months against the Muslim community women whove been attacked for simply wearing the hijab, a Canadian family out for a walk on a Sunday evening being attacked and murdered by an individual clearly motivated by hatred and the ideologies which drive many of the groups which weve spoken about this morning is deeply concerning to us, he said at a virtual news conference.

Members of the Three Percenters, a militia movement, have been linked to a plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan, and officials say Canadian chapters have carried out firearms and paramilitary-style training in Alberta, with another chapter in British Columbia.

Their adherents are active in Canada. We monitor their activities in Canada with growing concern, Blair said.

The Aryan Strikeforce also has chapters in Canada as well as the United States, eastern Europe, South America and South Africa, he said.

An affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant based in the Democratic Republic of Congo has also been placed on the terror list.

The four latest additions follow 13 others named in February, four of which were right-wing extremist groups, including the Proud Boys.

Blair warned of an abiding risk that far-right ideologies will take root in the rank and file of police and the military.

Both the Aryan Strikeforce and the Three Percenters have indicated their interest in recruiting among our law enforcement and military agencies, and they do attract some adherents who are former law enforcement and former military, he said.

The problem is a matter of concern and, Im sure, of action by law enforcement and the Canadian Armed Forces, he said.

The Three Percenters, whose name references the false belief that a minuscule proportion of colonists fought against the British in the American Revolution has been linked to bomb plots targeting U.S. federal buildings and Muslim communities. One member was convicted of assault after shooting and wounding five men at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Minneapolis in 2015.

Aryan Strikeforce, a United Kingdom-based neo-Nazi group, views violence as a means of inciting a race war and eradicating racialized minorities. Adherents of the decentralized skinhead movement planned a suicide bombing attack on counter-protesters during a 2016 white supremacist rally in Pennsylvania, and have been convicted of crimes in the U.K. and U.S. involving chemical weapons production and bomb-making instructions.

Officials lump such groups under the catch-all term ideologically motivated violent extremist entities.

Conservative public safety critic Shannon Stubbs said her party supports the latest designations, but demanded the Liberal government also list Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian military with close ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The IRGC is not only the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world, its responsible for the killing of 138 individuals with ties to Canada with the downing of flight PS752, Stubbs said in a statement, noting that Liberals backed a Tory motion calling for its listing in 2018.

A forensic report on Thursday found that Iran did not plan last years deadly downing of the passenger jet in advance, but a series of failures by the regimes civil and military authorities set the stage for the shoot-down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 minutes after it took off from the Tehran airport on Jan. 8, 2020.

In Canada, the terror listing process begins with intelligence reports that provide reason to believe an organization has knowingly carried out, attempted to carry out, participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity.

If the public safety minister believes the threshold is met, they may recommend to the federal cabinet that the organization be tacked on the list. The listing is then published if cabinet agrees with the recommendation.

A listed group is not banned, nor is it a crime to be on the roster. However, the groups assets and property are effectively frozen and subject to seizure or forfeiture.

Canada previously placed two right-wing extremist groups on the list in 2019: Blood and Honour, which is an international neo-Nazi network, and its armed branch, Combat 18.

They joined more than 50 other listed organizations at the time the number has since swelled to 77 including al-Qaida, the Islamic State militant group Boko Haram, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, identified just over 100 far-right and white supremacist groups in 2015. But an updated study shes completing highlights more than 300 active groups, some of which are explicitly Islamophobic, she said in an interview.

The atomization of hate movements is another phenomenon of the past five or six years, she said.

While groups remain central, there is a growing number of floaters individuals who are unaffiliated with organizations and drift in and out of social media platforms associated with an array of different groups, cherry picking bits and pieces of their ideologies that suit their needs, she said.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

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Terrorism

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2 more extreme right-wing groups join Proud Boys on Canada's terror list Peace Arch News - Peace Arch News