How the government allowed the Proud Boys’ violence to fester for years

The May 4 conviction of former Proud Boys national chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and three other leaders on charges of seditious conspiracy and dozens of others was made possible by the Proud Boys themselves.

Before, during, and after the Jan. 6 insurrection that briefly stopped the congressional certification of Joe Biden as president, the Proud Boys took credit for storming of the U.S. Capitol that resulted in five deaths.

Simply put, the Proud Boys thought they could get away with it because … they had almost always gotten away with it.

Since crashing on to the political scene in 2016 with a toxic brew of swagger, hate and violence — “We will assassinate you” crowed founder Gavin McInnes — the Proud Boys often operated with impunity. Their hive of white nationalists, fascists, and neo-confederates regularly invaded cities, leaving behind destruction, injuries, fear and death.

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Sure, in a few instances, far-right street brawlers were smacked with lengthy prison sentences. Two Proud Boys received four-year sentences for attacking anti-fascists in New York City in 2018, and a neo-Nazi received a term of life plus 419 years for the car-borne murder of Heather Heyer at the infamous “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., that was organized by Proud Boys Jason Kessler in August 2017.

But Proud Boys leaders typically emerged unscathed despite actively participating in vicious attacks on political opponents. For years the Proud Boys turned Portland, Oregon, into their proving ground. Portland police would let the far right rampage throughout the city, pleased to see them bash their mutually hated left-wing opponents.

In June 2018, police blocked off a group of anti-fascists and then marched a mob of Proud Boys kitted for combat into them, according to witnesses I interviewed. It quickly descended into a scene out of “Gangs of New York,” with a dozen separate melees usually involving a lone anti-fascist being pummeled by a far-right mob.

Police claimed they allowed both sides to “exercise their First Amendment rights to speech and assembly” and declared a riot only after violence began. But that day was one of a number of instances when police allowed Proud Boys to openly carry illegal weapons used to attack anti-fascists. It was later revealed Portland police were in close communication with a far-right firebrand, offering him tactical tips in their street skirmishes with antifascists and advice on how to keep Tusitala “Tiny” Toese out of police hands, a massive Proud Boys brawler who had an open warrant for arrest.

Activists compiled a dossier of 51 individuals whom it claimed could be identified in attacks that day, most by name. Among them was Enrique Tarrio, who can be seen in one video (at the 1:00) throwing punches. Also present that day was Ethan Nordean, one of Tarrio’s henchmen convicted of seditious conspiracy. Despite the visual evidence and naming of dozens of extremists dishing out violence, not one has ever been prosecuted for their acts that day by local or state officials in Oregon.

This gave Proud Boys leaders the sense that they were untouchable — and it proved to be their undoing.

In their own words

The Department of Justice won a crucial victory early on in the case against the Proud Boys, whom they called the “tip of the spear” in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

As Roger Parloff, who reported from inside the courtroom during the four-month-long trial, noted, the prosecution was able to make a critical distinction in its case, “the charge is not seditious plan; the charge is seditious conspiracy” (italics in original).

That allowed the government to mine social media and text messages as to the intentions and mindset of the Proud Boys. One hurdle in the case was that Tarrio was not in Washington, D.C., the day of the insurrection. He had been exiled on January 4 for his role in burning a Black Lives Matter banner in the nation’s capital weeks earlier and then being arrested for carrying a large-capacity ammunition magazine that is illegal in the nation’s capital.

As the riot raged on January 6, Tarrio was brash enough to write on social media, “Make no mistake, we did this.”

Tarrio and other Proud Boys leaders reveled in violence leading up to January 6. About a week before the insurrection, Tarrio wrote on social media, “Let's bring this new year in with one word in mind: revolt.” After the election that Trump lost, Tarrio warned of a “civil war” and threatened, “No Trump … No peace. No Quarter.”

After the 2020 election, Zachary Rehl, president of the Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter who was convicted alongside Tarrio, wrote on Parler, a right-wing social media platform, “Hopefully, the firing squads are for the traitors that are trying to steal the election from the American people.”

Joseph Biggs, the fourth Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy and who gained a reputation for graphic threats of violence years before the insurrection, took to Parler as well to make threats. Two days after the election he said, “It’s time for f—ing war if they steal this s—.”

In 2019, before a Proud Boys gathering in Portland that witnessed far-right attacks, Biggs was effusive in calling for violence. On Twitter, he advised followers to pack guns, declared “DEATH TO ANTIFA!!!!!!”, showed off a spiked weapon saying it “will be put to good use” and advocated murdering leftists before his account was suspended.

When I interviewed Biggs in Portland at that Proud Boys rally, he said the FBI asked him to tone down the violence. But FBI agents also spoke regularly to Biggs as a source of information on anti-fascists and he sought advice on march routes in Portland, according to Biggs’ lawyer. NBC News said the FBI relations with the Proud Boys bolstered views that “law enforcement has coddled them, condoned their violence and even protected them during their frequent street brawls with anti-fascists.”

Ethan Nordean also took a war footing after the 2020 vote. He said, “The spirit of 1776 has been resurfaced and has created groups like the Proud Boys. And we will not be extinguished.”

The use of 1776 appears to have been code. Evidence introduced during the trial included a nine-page document found in Tarrio’s possession called, “1776 returns.” It laid out a detailed tactical plan to storm and occupy six “crucial” congressional buildings and the Supreme Court. The document reads, “These are OUR buildings, they are just renting space. We must show our politicians We the People are in charge.”

The 1776 returns plan broke down manpower assignments as well as “January 6 — execution day overview.” It described scouts and infiltration of targeted buildings, “be dressed in suits and unsuspecting,” ensuring crowds are ready to go, and “an entry point for masses to rush the building.” Follow-up included distracting police in other parts of the city and blocking access to the Capitol with semi trucks and car caravans.

While the day’s events did not match 1776 returns exactly, there was crucial overlap. Even before January 6, the Proud Boys were openly telling its forces to ditch their notorious uniform of black-and-gold Fred Perry shirts and go incognito.

The government also detailed how Proud Boys on trial “played crucial roles in the first four security breaches that culminated in rioters invading the Capitol,” according to Parloff.

This included Dominic Pezzola, the fifth of the Proud Boys on trial. He used a stolen police shield to smash in a window in the Capitol, creating the first breach on Jan. 6. A foot soldier, Pezzola was convicted of numerous charges but acquitted of seditious conspiracy.

Sentencing for the five Proud Boys is set for August with numerous charges carrying prison sentences of up to 20 years. The Department of Justice is touting the verdict as a major blow against the Proud Boys.. But if it wasn’t for years of law enforcement affinity for the Proud Boys and prosecutorial indifference toward them, they would have found a much harder road to coalescing into Donald Trump’s brownshirts.

The threat still remains. Local chapters of the Proud Boys have found a new role to play in the GOP agenda of sowing hate for political advantage. Proud Boys regularly harass transgender people and their supporters and violently demonstrate against family-friendly Drag Queen story hours.

While the Proud Boys may be done as an openly violent fascist gang, America will almost certainly be plagued by far-right violence for years to come until police, prosecutors, and politicians treat outfits like the Proud Boys as the threat to democracy that they are.