Because the US heads towards Election Day, former president Donald Trump has ramped up claims that he can solely lose by means of “large voter fraud” and heightened his use of violent rhetoric in opposition to Democrats and different “enemies.” This echoes his previous statements that spurred motion from far-right teams just like the Proud Boys, who performed an enormous position within the January 6 Capitol assault as a “Donald Trump’s military” after Trump known as on them to “stand again and stand by” in a 2020 debate.
Some leaders of the Proud Boys had been later convicted of seditious conspiracy, together with former chairman Enrique Tarrio, who’s now serving a 22-year sentence.
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Donald Trump’s ‘Delight Boys’ are nonetheless lively
Regardless of these convictions, the Proud Boys stay lively, with a number of chapters mobilizing in help of Trump forward of the upcoming election. At the least 30 of the group’s Telegram channels have posted pro-Trump content material since October, in response to an evaluation by Advance Democracy, a nonprofit analysis group.
The Columbus, Ohio chapter has claimed that a few of its members have been registered as ballot watchers and ballot staff, asserting that “the duty is just too vital to belief to common normies.” The put up reads additional, “so it was an all-hands-on-deck effort.”
One other Ohio Proud Boys group additionally posted that they’re “watching polls all over the place.” Whereas one other account wrote, “Locked, loaded, and prepared for treasonous voter fraud.”
Whereas the Proud Boys’ present messages don’t explicitly name for interference, some have shared a picture of a masked, armed man with the caption, “FREE MEN DO NOT OBEY PUBLIC SERVANTS.”
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Who’re these ‘Delight Boys’?
Members within the group’s signature gold-collared black polos had been additionally seen in a chosen part at a Trump rally on Sunday. Based in 2016, the group gained nationwide consideration for its involvement in violent clashes at protests and its help of Trump. The Proud Boys describe themselves as “Western chauvinists,” however they’re identified for spreading conspiracy theories, together with election fraud claims, and for rallying round anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigration, and anti-“woke” points.
Federal authorities have taken steps to counter misinformation from overseas sources however face limits in dealing with misinformation from home political entities.
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The ex-POTUS, who was indicted for allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 loss, has a historical past of inflammatory language, not too long ago telling former Fox Information host Tucker Carlson that Home Jan. 6 committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney would possibly rethink her positions if she had “weapons skilled on her face” and expressing indifference towards a hypothetical shooter concentrating on “faux information.”
