The Proud Boys is an exclusively male North American far-right, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence. The group's leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the United States government, including the constitutionally prescribed transfer of presidential power. It has been called a street gang and was designated as a terrorist group in Canada and New Zealand. The Proud Boys are known for their opposition to left-wing and progressive groups and for their support of former U.S. President Donald Trump. While Proud Boys leadership has denied being a white supremacist organization, the group and some of its members have been connected to white supremacist events, ideologies, and other white power groups throughout its existence.
Proud Boys stand next to Joey Gibson at an August 2017 rally in Seattle
Enrique Tarrio at a rally in 2020. Tarrio became the national chairman of the group in 2018
The Proud Boys at a Second Amendment rally in Richmond
The Proud Boys at an Ohio event in 2020
White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine of scientific racism and was a key justification for European colonialism.
White men pose for a photograph of the 1920 Duluth, Minnesota lynchings. Two of the black victims are still hanging while the third is on the ground. Lynchings were often public spectacles for the white community to celebrate white supremacy in the U.S., and photos were often sold as postcards.
Ku Klux Klan parade in Washington, D.C. in 1926
The Good Citizen 1926, published by Pillar of Fire Church
Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally in 1923
