The Proud Boys

The Proud Boys is an ultra-nationalist organization founded by Gavin McInnes in 2016. Branding itself as “proud western chauvinists,” the group positions itself in opposition to what it describes as “white guilt” and “political correctness,” as well as perceived constraints on masculinity.¹Southern Poverty Law Center, ‘Proud Boys,’ accessed on 4 November 2024 According to its own members, the Proud Boys’ purpose is to defend “the West” from forces that purportedly seek to erode it.²Southern Poverty Law Center, ‘Proud Boys,’ accessed on 4 November 2024 Initially active in the United States and Canada, the group dissolved in Canada nearly three months after it was declared a terrorist organization by the Canadian government in 2021. Due in part to its decentralized, regional chapter-based structure, the group’s activities vary from state to state in the US. Members often engage in violence, usually in the form of street fighting during demonstrations against opposing demonstrators, to achieve their goals. The group also employs irony and sarcasm in its jokes, memes, and online trolling, particularly in its recruitment and propaganda efforts. It played a major role in the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 following Donald Trump’s loss in the November 2020 presidential elections, leading to the arrest of a number of its members and the sentencing of four, including leader Enrique Tarrio, on charges of seditious conspiracy in 2023. However, on 20 January 2025, the day his second term began, Donald Trump issued pardons and commutations for around 1,500 people charged with participating in the 6 January 2021 riot. Enrique Tarrio and several high-ranking Proud Boys were among those who received pardons.³Alan Feuer, ‘Ex-Proud Boys Leader, Pardoned by Trump, Helped Initiate Capitol Riot,’ The New York Times, 20 January 2025

Extremist groups in the United States

The Proud Boys is one of a number of actors involved in extremist activity in the US. Other groups include armed militias like the Three Percenters and largely inactive Oath Keepers; hate groups, neo-Nazi groups, or openly white supremacist groups like the Patriot Front and Active Clubs; and movements like the Boogaloo Boys that are intent on setting off a second American Civil War.

Members of the Proud Boys join Donald Trump supporters as they protest the election outside the Colorado State Capitol on January 6 2021 in Denver, Colorado. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images