Miami increases its security measures this Tuesday before the imputation of former President Donald Trump: on the day of his first appearance in the case of the forged documents, protests are planned in the citywhere up to 50,000 protesters are expected, according to Europa Press, citing international media.
The mayor of Miami, Francis Suárez, has been confident in statements to international media that “it will be peaceful”: “We’re going to have the right forces needed to secure it.», he pointed out.
In addition, as reported by Manuel Morales, the police chief, the zone will not be perimeterwhich will allow the protesters to move freely through the building, although the authorities “will be ready” to act, if necessary.
Among the demonstrations planned there’s one promoted by the Proud Boysa pro-Trump group that participated among others in the 2021 assault on the Capitol, according to the Miami Herald.
Who are the Proud Boys?
Founded in 2016 around Gavin McInnes, is a neo-fascist, far-right and ultranationalist group. In addition, it is an organization only for men, according to McInnes himself. in a text he published on the internet.
Proud Boys has a presence in the US and Canada, dwhere it was declared a terrorist group in 2021, shortly after the Assault on the Capitol. In addition, the leading institution in the study of extremism, the Southern Poverty Law Center, has included it in the list of dangerous organizations and the FBI has labeled it a hate group.
At first they met to drink alcohol –According to Andy Campbell, journalist who has detailed the history of the collective, started as a “drinking club with a patriotism problem”.
Soon they turned to street violence and the culture wars and became one of the most visible extremist groups in the US.
Who is Gavin McInnes?
The inspiration behind Proud Boys is Gavin McInnes. He was in the group from 2016 to 2018. He is a British-Canadian writer and podcaster. He was the founder of Vice Magazine, a magazine with which he defined hipster culture, according to international media, and of which he ceased to be a part in 2008.
After that, he created a new platform that failed and later, already with his brand, he wrote some books and created a YouTube channel. In the videos he posted was positioned against feminism or black people.
In fact, in addition to writing a guide with what he does not like about Jewish people, in various interviews with international media like The New York Timeshas stated that he “loves being white”: “It is something to be very proud of”, while has opted for “closing bordersfor “everyone to assimilate into a white, English-speaking, Western way of life.”
Also, to McInnes he is obsessed with violence. In fact, he has gone so far as to proclaim that “a fight fixes everything” or that “you’re not a man until you get beat up and you’ve hit someone else.”
Australian Government banned McInnes from entering the country in 2018, by assuring that it posed “a significant risk”.
Who is Enrique Tarrio?
led the band since 2018 and according to various media he is already out of office. He is 39 years old and of Cuban-American descent.
He joined the Proud Boys in 2017 and participated in the altercations in Charlottesville, in that year. In June 2018 he became a fourth grade member of the band.
He has been part of the organization of several robberies and in 2021, he was arrested in Washington on charges of destruction of property. by burning a flag with the slogan Black Lives Matter, as reported by El País. The next day he was released.
What is the ideology of the Proud Boys?
The Proud Boys are a far-right group that has positioned itself on several occasions against feminism, islam or everything they say is “destroying Western civilization.” Its founder, in fact, says that “it would be fair” to call him an Islamophobic. He has also declared himself against the Palestinians, whom he has labeled as “stupid”, something that he has called Muslims, of whom he has added that “the only thing they respect is violence.”
Nonetheless, they claim they are multiracial.
The founder, McInnes, has stated in an interview quoted by El Paísthat “the Proud Boys are family men». He has also stated that his wish is that “they have a wife who is a faithful housewife and that they procreate.”
In some interviews he has positioned himself against feminismeven assuring “that it does not make sense in the 21st century” and that after “having managed to vote and go to university”, women “should not ask for anything more”.
Also, also are against the trans collective. As its founder wrote in an article, cited by international media, “transphobia is perfectly natural.” In fact, McInnes has gone so far as to refer to trans people as “stupid lunatics” and has claimed that “we are all transphobic.”
Membership grades to Proud Boys
You can be a member of the Proud Boys according to four levels: the first consists of declaring himself a Proud Boy and a chauvinist – who believes in the irrational superiority of a social group.
Afterwards, they must being beaten while reciting five cereal namesIn addition, they have to swear not to masturbate more than once a month. “Defending the West against people who want to shut it down is like remembering cereal while being bombarded with ten fists,” McInnes wrote.
The third level involves have a tattoo that says “proud boy”». And finally, to be completely a Proud Boy they should take a beating and engage in a violent act for “the cause.”
What assaults has the group participated in?
He storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021 It is the most famous of all in which the Proud Boys have participated, in which far-right groups tried to prevent Joe Biden from assuming power in the US after winning the presidential elections.
The Prosecutor’s Office attributed several of its members –Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola– to have plotted the events and to have encouraged violence.
The group became known in 2017, after being part of the riots that occurred in Charlottesville between anti-fascist protesters and white supremacists, which left one person dead and several injured.
In addition to that, they have participated in fights like the one formed and ended in the arrest of five gang members in Manhattan after McInnes spoke about the assassination of the leader of the Japanese Socialist Party in 1960.
