Normally we would never give any kind of air time or coverage on our website to hate groups even in our area; but because this has become a national conversation and a local conversation ever since President Donald Trump was asked to denounce white supremacy during Tuesday night’s debate, we needed to ask the question: how prevalent are they in our area and how concerned should we be?
Seconds after President Trump said, “stand back and stand by” The Proud Boys, who have been kicked off Facebook and Twitter, blasted their alternative social media sites with supportive images.
“Their response was ‘yes sir, Mr. President, we are on standby,’” said Robert Trestan, the regional director of The Anti-Defamation League’s New England region. “We have seen The Proud Boys at numerous events in New England including many of the straight pride parades. They have also had a very public presence at many of the public protests about reopening part of the country, including here in Massachusetts, so they have a presence in our area.”
Although Trestan didn’t know how many members, he said, “any presence is too much.”
So who are The Proud Boys?
“We define them as a hate group because of their anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. They regularly use racial slurs to describe Muslims [and] they believe women belong in a home,” said Cassie Miller of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Proud Boys describe themselves as a “pro-western fraternity,” but the SPLC said, since they formed in 2016, the same year President Trump was elected, some members have taken part in acts of violence and intimidation, with some even holding white supremacist ideologies.
“I don’t know who The Proud Boys are,” said President Trump on Wednesday. “But they do need to stand down and let law enforcement do their work. The problem is coming from the left and Antifa.”
President Trump walked back comments made earlier with that statement, but some people feel it was just a formality.
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“Given every opportunity to say simply this is wrong, this is dangerous, because words have consequences, and what we have seen is that, once from a high structure, you give comfort and affirmation to acts of violence,” said Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches. “Words are hurtful, people take those words seriously and they act on them.”
So now the question is what happens next?
“They can often be seen wearing MAGA hats and they show up to a lot of pro-Trump rallies and events,” Trestan said. “There is growing concern that the election and the days leading up to it and potentially after could include violence.”
While we don’t know how many are in our area, SPLC counted 44 different Proud Boys chapters throughout the country. The SPLC said the group’s goal is to normalize political violence and blame the left and groups like Antifa.
SPLC, ADL, and Political Research Associates said Antifa has a lot of support, potentially even locally, but they don’t have the same formal organization or clear membership structure as The Proud Boys.
>>>MORE: Proud Boys member Alan Swinney arrested in Oregon on 12 charges
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