Who are the Proud Boys?

The movements of the Proud Boys at the day of the US Capitol riot, January 6, were described by witnesses during the Select Committee’s first primetime hearing on Thursday. 

The leader of the Proud Boys was sentenced to a five-month prison term last year after blazing a banner of the Black Lives Matter movement in Washington and carrying two firearm magazines at the Capitol riots on January 6 earlier this year.

Also read: What is likely to come up at the upcoming January 6 hearings?

But who are the Proud Boys?

The Proud Boys is a far-right, anti-immigrant, all-male group founded in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder and Canadian-British right-wing activist Gavin McInnes. The group, whose name is a reference to a song from the musical version of the Disney film Aladdin, have a history of street violence against its left-wing opponents.   

Members often wear black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirts along with red “Make America Great Again” hats.

Also read: Jan 6 hearing: Ivanka Trump says she believed Bill Barr’s ‘election fraud bullshit’ claim

A Proud Boy must declare that he is “a Western chauvinist who refuses to apologise for creating the modern world”.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Centre, the Proud Boys are known for their “anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric” and have been classified as an ‘extremist group’ by the FBI.

On their platform, ideas similar to Trumpism (“glorify the entrepreneur”, “close the border”), libertarianism (“give everyone a gun”, “end welfare”) and traditional gender roles (“venerate the housewife”) are propagated. 

The group has been banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, and its members and official chapters have been relegated to less popular social media sites.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) claims that the organisation has anti-transgender, anti-immigration, and anti-Semitic beliefs.

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Meanwhile, the Proud Boys were known to intimidate protesters taking part in anti-racism rallies sparked by the murder of George Floyd and in some places have incited violence and fighting.

More recently, several members of the Proud Boys participated in the recent attack on the US Capitol Hill on January 6 this year. Several members of the group are presently facing legal charges and one top leader was arrested for their role in the storming of the Capitol. 

At least five people were killed in the riot, which is widely being considered one of the worst security breaches in US history.