A Proud Boys leader revealed that one of his major goals for the year is to get members of the right-wing group involved in local politics.
“I’ve always said my goal for this year … was simple,” Chairman Enrique Tarrio told NPR’s “All Things Considered” in a June 28 interview. “Start getting more involved in local politics, running our guys for office from local seats, whether it’s a simple GOP seat or a city council seat.”
The Proud Boys group was founded in 2016 and has been characterized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Members of the group often espouse white nationalist rhetoric, deny any connection to the alt-right, and have appeared at extremist gatherings, including the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, dozens of members of the group have been charged for the involvement in the deadly insurrection.
Tarrio shared earlier this year that the group has been struggling financially since the riot as they faced major scrutiny and some major companies refused to do business with them.
“We’ve been bleeding money since January, like, hemorrhaging money,” Tarrio said as some card processing companies refused to work with them, which prevented online orders from 1776.shop from being filled. Tarrio told The Wall Street Journal he had begun selling Black Lives Matter and liberal merchandise through an online store although the paper couldn’t verify the claim.
Amid the scrutiny in the months following the riot, the group fractured and splintered as the Department of Justice cracked down on prosecuting those involved.
Tarrio told NPR the organization has “been through the wringer” and said he plans to go local amid the internal discord and will step down as chairman and shift his focus toward the Florida chapter. But Tarrio also dismissed the idea that the group is facing internal discord, saying, “we’re all on the same page,” adding that he’s recently met with chapters that threatened to leave the national group.
Former Proud Boys member Joel Campbell is running for City Council in Topeka, Kansas. He said he decided after the Capitol attack that the group had diverged too far from mainstream political values.
He believes his association with the group, noted by The Topeka Capital-Journal, has been a boost for his campaign. “The truth is, I haven’t spent one campaign dollar. I haven’t asked for one donation yet. And I’m probably the most well-known person in Topeka,” he said.
The Proud Boys faced internal turmoil earlier this year when it was reported that Tarrio was previously a “prolific” informant for the FBI and worked undercover for authorities following his arrest in 2012. When confronted with a 2014 transcript of a federal court proceeding that contained information about Tarrio’s informant work, Tarrio denied involvement in the cases.
“I don’t know any of this,” he told Reuters. “I don’t recall any of this.”
