Monthly Archives: September 2021

Proud Boys organizer Joseph Biggs charged in Capitol riots

A self-described leader of the Proud Boys was charged for his role in the Capitol riots; authorities said Joseph Biggs encouraged other extremists.

Staff Video, USA TODAY

Leaders of the far-right Proud Boys group accused in the deadly Capitol riot made a new appeal for pre-trial releaseMonday, with their lawyers asserting that Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs presented no future public safety risk.

Nicholas Smith, Nordean's attorney, also said that his client's father was prepared to back a $1 million bond with his "life savings" to secure his son's release.

Nordean and Biggs, along with other Proud Boy membersaccused in aconspiracy to obstruct Congress' certification of President Joe Biden's election,have been held since April.

Smith, who offered up text messages in which his client reportedly rejected any plans to attend future rallies or to maintain a leadership position in the group,said the government's opposition to release, based on a finding of "future dangerousness" required the defense to"prove a negative."

More: With Trump in the rearview mirror, Proud Boys offer muscle at rallies against vaccine mandates, masks

More: Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio pleads guilty in Black Lives Matter banner burning

"It is so essential that the politics of this doesn't overwhelm the facts," Smith argued, referring to the polarized political environment that gave life to the Capitol assault that left five dead.

The attorney's remark brought a biting response from U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who ordered the men detained in April, saying then that it was"no exaggeration to say that the rule of law, the durability of our Constitutions order and in the end, the very existence of our republic, is threatened by such conduct."

"The politics of this have nothing to do with this (hearing) not a wit," Kelly said Monday.

Meanwhile, Daniel Hull, the attorney representing Biggs, attacked the government's conspiracy charge, arguing that there had been no plan to attack the Capitol and that any assessment of his client's risk to public safety should account for that.

"Clear and convincing evidence of future dangerous does not exist," Hull argued.

The prosecution, however, presented statements from Nordean following the riots, suggesting that he was not finished with leading future demonstrations.

"I am not going to be sitting on my ass waiting for the end," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough said, quoting from Jan. 12 message from Nordean. "We will never stop."

Former Wisconsin Proud Boy member saw bigotry and bullying

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

Jasper Colt, USA TODAY

McCullough said the group had also discussed the need for long-range planning and regional training for members.

If the pair did win their release, McCullough said it would be "impossible to police" their access to electronics to engage in communications with the group.

Kelly did not make an immediate decision before the public segment of the hearing was moved to a closed session.

Trump tells Proud Boys: 'Stand back and stand by'

President Donald Trump declined to clearly condemn white supremacist groups and their role in violence during Tuesday's first presidential debate, at one point telling the neo-fascist group "Proud Boys" to "stand back and stand by." (Sept. 29)

AP

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Proud Boys leaders charged in Capitol riot seek release; judge feels the weight of 'very existence of our republic' - USA TODAY

New research shows that while no firearms are reported at the majority of protests in the United States, protests with guns present are on the rise since the beginning of 2020, and 84 percent of groups involved in armed demonstrations are right-wing extremists like the Proud Boys.

A recent, first-of-its-kind report from independent researchers Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) quantified the 560-plus armed demonstrations that have taken place across the United States since the start of 2020, averaging more than one a daya number that is rising.

Justin Wagner, Director of Investigations at Everytown for Gun Safety, spoke about expectations for the September 18 "Justice for J6" rally planned by former Trump staffer and campaign operative Matt Braynard in an email with Newsweek Monday evening. The rally is reportedly intended to protest the prosecution of the rioters from the January 6 Capitol Riots.

Wagner said that he is hoping this Saturday's rally will be peaceful and unarmed but, given his group's research, he wasn't shocked that Braynard did not suggest participants leave guns at home, even though he did issue several other rules for attendance via the event website that had the appearance of considering safety.

"This isn't surprising," Wagner said. "Guns were present and part of the Jan. 6 attack and are an organizing principle of far-right groups, like the Proud Boys and Three Percenters who are also linked with this Saturday's event. Guns aren't just tools of intimidation and violence, they are often how extremist groups message and recruit."

Wagner also pointed out that his group's report "shows a proliferation in armed demonstrations on the grounds of government facilities," which might not bode well for the September 18 rally, saying, "Since the beginning of 2020, 18 [percent] of all armed demonstrations have occurred on the grounds of government facilities, with more than 100 reported at legislative buildings and vote counting centers across 25 states and Washington, DC."

Armed demonstrations are "violent or destructive" roughly five times as often as unarmed demonstrations in the U.S., according to Wagner. However, in the case of the upcoming "Justice for J6 Rally," D.C. laws prohibiting carrying firearms in public spaces, make things harder for armed citizen militias.

"Many states do not have the same restrictions," Wagner told Newsweek. "In other states, law enforcement would not be able to arrest an extremist using firearms as an intimidation tool until violence occurred."

The report found that states with open carry laws were significantly more likely to have armed demonstrations with violence than states where open carry of firearms is not allowed.

Eighty-four percent of the groups involved in U.S. armed demonstrations are right-wing actors, according to the report, with the Boogaloo Boys and their affiliates, the Three Percenters, and associated groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, at the top of the list.

Correction (9/14/2021, 6:15 p.m.): This article and headline originally stated that right-wing groups were responsible for 84 percent of armed demonstrations. This should have said that of all groups identified at armed demonstrations, 84 percent were right-wing.

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84% of Groups Involved in Armed Demonstrations Are Right-Wing Actors Like the Proud Boys - Newsweek

To liberal America, Genevieve Peters became an object of national scorn when she livestreamed herself refusing to wear a mask in a Trader Joe's store in Rancho Palo Verdes, Calif. in May 2020, causing a clerk to call the police an early example of defiance against COVID restrictions that has long since lost its novelty, but was then worthy of mention in the New York Times.

To many others, Peters was a hero with a growing social-media profile. The Trader Joe's incident helped cement her position as a prominent social media influencer who helped coalesce the burgeoning far-right subculture in southern California that drew together anti-lockdown resentment with fanatical MAGA loyalty, interwoven with enforcement muscle from Trump's violent followers, the Proud Boys.

Even before the Trader Joe's incident, Peters had posed for a photo with Trump confidante Roger Stone and Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio at the American Priority Conference at Trump National Doral Miami, and earned a spot in the world of minor MAGA celebrity, where influencers like her acted as a conduit between Trump's inner circle and the street-level activism that fueled his cult of personality. In southern California, Peters worked closely with Latinos 4 Trump; she's called Elsa Aldeguer, the organization's president, her "bestie." Like Peters, Aldeguer has also forged close ties to the Proud Boys.

Peters' Facebook page is studded with selfies showing her standing with an array of far-right and MAGA players. Dressed in a tricorn hat, Peters joined a group of Proud Boys armed with assault-style rifles for a Second Amendment rally at the Michigan state capitol in Lansing in September 2020. If that wasn't edgy enough, she also posed inside the Capitol lobby with a group of young men open-carrying rifles and wearing Hawaiian shirts associated with the violent Boogaloo movement. Her selfie collection with MAGA figures is no less prolific: Rudy Giuliani in December 2020, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in October 2019, Trump campaign digital media director Brad Parscale in November 2019, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in January 2020, Trump campaign surrogate Mark Burns in October 2019, and multiple appearances with conspiracy theorist and unsuccessful congressional candidate Laura Loomer. And a July 2019 photo shows her with future US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who is a moderator on the Family America Project Facebook group that Peters administers.

Peters' relevance as an influencer and organizer in the MAGA universe was enhanced by the fact that she claims ties to two different regions of the country. In August 2020, she returned to her home state of Michigan to help mobilize support for Trump's critical effort in the swing state, which he ultimately lost. She made the news again, in Dec. 5, when she livestreamed a night-time protest outside Michigan Secretary of State Joycelyn Benson's home; police said some of the protesters were carrying weapons.

As pro-Trump rallies in Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona, along with Washington DC in November and December, built momentum for the massive gathering in DC on Jan. 6, Peters fanned excitement and assisted with logistics. On the eve of the Dec. 12 Jericho March, Peters marched with the Proud Boys. Following the Dec. 12 rally, Peters celebrated her cross-country organizing efforts with a photo of herself with Aldeguer and others gathered around a barroom table in a Facebook post captioned, "Connecting my Awesome Cali Patriots with my Awesome Michigan Patriots!"

Back in Michigan, Peters helped organize a bus that departed from the Detroit area for DC on Jan. 4. It is unclear how the bus trip was financed, but Articia Bomer, an unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate, introduced Peters to a reporter during the trip as "someone that's head of this trip." In DC, Peters stayed in the Willard Hotel, which also provided lodging to her friend Aldeguer and high-profile luminaries like Roger Stone. On Jan. 6, when she advanced to the west plaza outside the Capitol, Peters wore a plastic lanyard clipped to the collar of her coat, showing that she had VIP access to the "Save America March" organized by Women for America First."

Peters has not been charged with any crime in connection with the assault on the US Capitol, but dozens of Proud Boys, the brawling nationalist street gang she has celebrated and promoted, have been arrested. They include Joe Biggs, a national Proud Boys leader whom she sheltered with a parasol at the July 2019 "Demand Free Speech" rally in DC. Biggs is charged with conspiracy to corruptly obstruct Congress' certification of the electoral vote and to obstruct law enforcement, alongside three other Proud Boys leaders.

Peters' association with the Proud Boys appears to be more than just happenstance. Joining the Proud Boys as they marched through downtown DC chanting "F*** antifa" on Dec. 11, she offered an enthusiastic endorsement: "Bam, bam, these are my people right here.... People that love America, people that love our country, people that love our president.... That's what I like: real men! Real men!"

But Peters is even closer with another Jan. 6 defendant who is accused of assaulting law enforcement and other offenses. Enrique Tarrio reportedly told the alt-right news site National File that David Dempsey was rejected for membership in the Proud Boys because of "his history of violent acts," but Peters described him as a "friend" and "patriot brother" while soliciting contributions donations to help cover his legal expenses after he sprayed counter-protesters with bear repellent during a melee at the Santa Monica Pier in October 2019.

Peters could not be reached for comment for this story.

Peters herself described the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6 as "amazing." Recounting the day's events during a livestream while walking back to her hotel room on Jan. 6, Peters described how she and a friend used a mobile sound rig to thank Trump supporters for being there and to declare, "This is our 1776."

"We were getting word that they had stormed the Capitol," Peters recounted. "We were getting word that they actually got in. And see, this area that we were actually in, no one was supposed to be in because it was all completely cut off and shut down for the inauguration. And they were scaffolding and building everything."

After Trump supporters retreated from the Capitol and reported being pepper-sprayed, Peters exulted about the size of the crowd. "And it was really an amazing show of force, an amazing show of patriotism, everything that you want," she said. "We felt incredibly proud."

Emphasizing her sense of justification again, she said, "At this point, like I said, we had completely controlled the entire Capitol. I mean, the Capitol, the rafters, everything, and I've got tons of pictures to share with you guys. Definitely sends a message, there's no question that we didn't send a strong message about not accepting his fraudulent election."

While Peters took a selfie from the plaza showing Trump supporters thronging the scaffolding and the Lower West Terrace, her friend, David Dempsey was engaged in an ongoing battle with police at the mouth of the Lower West Terrace tunnel.

Citing an open-source video archived on the seditionhunters.org website, the FBI wrote in a charging document that the 34-year-old Dempsey appears to have sprayed officers with mace and bludgeoned them with a crutch and a pole. Dempsey was arrested with another California man Jeffrey Scott Brown, 54, of Santa Ana in late August.

Dempsey made it clear what he hoped the rioters would accomplish in an extended rant filmed next to a makeshift gallows outside the Capitol.

Quickly moving past the interviewer's suggestion that the gallows was a "work of art," Dempsey said, "This is necessary. Like I said, they say, 'We need to start arresting people. We need to start putting them behind bars.' No, we don't need to waste the taxpayer dollars on these worthless cretins who are treasonous to our country. We need to decriminalize hemp and marijuana, turn all that shit into rope when we're done with it. And string all these worthless bastards up from the top of these tree lines, the rafters, the rooftops, the statues."

Dempsey continued his profanity-laden rant by naming a string of Democratic officials and appointees as worthy of death.

"I say we should have been doing this a long f***ing time ago," he said. "Them worthless f***ing shitholes like Jerry Nadler and f***ing Pelosi, Clapper, Comey, f***ing those pieces of garbage, you know, Obama, all these dudes, Clinton, f*** all these pieces of shits. That's what they need. They don't need a jail cell. They need to hang from these mother***ers while everybody videotapes, and it f***ing spreads on YouTube or BitChute or whatever f***ing social media there is."

It remains unclear whether Peters and Dempsey met up or otherwise communicated on Jan. 6, but Dempsey's reputation for violence preceded him to the US Capitol.

Following his arrest by the Santa Monica police for bear-spraying an anti-Trump protest organized by RefuseFascism.org in October 2019, a local newspaper reported that Dempsey was a felon, and could face up to eight years in prison if convicted. But Peters defended him as "trying to disperse lunatic rabid, dangerous leftist [sic] from injuring other Patriots during a scuffle." She added, "I saw the footage, I know his heart! He is a good man!"

Dempsey's charge of using teargas as a weapon was still pending in California at the time he showed up at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and allegedly sprayed mace at police officers. Ultimately, Dempsey was convicted of the state offense in Los Angeles County Superior Court on May 17, 2021.

Dempsey was not the only right-wing street fighter that Peters publicly supported. In December 2019, a man named Joseph Krongchana was charged as the second individual involved in the bear-spray attack.

Peters documented her support for Krongchana with a June 17, 2020 Facebook post that showed her seated around a restaurant table with Krongchana, Dempsey and Aldeguer.

"Celebratory Breakfast after court for Joseph!" she wrote. "Thank you all for your prayers! One more to go! Continued prayers! Love my Patriot fam!"

Krongchana would be convicted of the same offense as Dempsey in Los Angeles Superior Court exactly a year later.

Peters continued to chronicle her friendship with Dempsey in the spring and summer of 2020: a backyard party following a day of lockdown protesting in April and a dinner party in June.

They even hit the road together: In July 2020, Peters posted a photo of herself posing alongside Aldeguer and another southern California pro-Trump activist, Leonor Ferris, on a roadside in Colorado. A smiling Dempsey was behind them throwing up an A-OK hand sign.

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MAGA influencer Genevieve Peters cheered on the Proud Boys and a man who went on to mace DC police - Raw Story