The "head of the snake" may be cut off, but the co-hosts of "The View" are warning that militia groups like the Proud Boys are growing strong in communities around the country.
Former Proud Boys chief Enrique Tarrio was given a 22-year sentence for his role in the Jan. 6 attack Tuesday, but that hasn't stopped his allies from targeting people of color or LGBTQ+ people in the states, the hosts said.
"This is a government strategy, right?" explained Sunny Hostin, who is a former federal prosecutor. "If you identified far right-wing groups or a group that's causing this country a lot of problems, you try to cut the head of the snake off. So, by cutting off all the leaders and imprisoning them, you hope the organization dies."
Joy Behar asked if Donald Trump was the head of the snake.
"He's the head snake but this is another snake," Hostin continued. "These are the little snakes. But I have noticed, and reporters have noticed, that instead of working federally, now they're going into local communities and they are stirring up issues with the LGBTQ+ community, with Black folks.
"The Proud Boys, in particular, are working on Black history and they're working at a local level. So, the government cutting off the head of the snake theory, that we've used for years and years, and years, I just don't know if it works with right-wing militia groups."
Behar asked how sending Tarrio to jail doesn't show others what could happen to them. Hostin explained that they truly believe themselves to be patriots defending America.
In its 2022 report, the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed the full number of hate groups has fallen since 2021, from 838 to 733. That was down from 940 in 2020. What hasn't declined, however, is the Proud Boys. Active Proud Boys chapters increased to 72 in 2021, up from 43 in 2020.
See the full discussion in the video below or at the link here.
