Boulder Free Speech Rally 6/3/2017

Today in Boulder, Colorado the Proud Boys Colorado put on a “Free Speech Rally” in which a handful of Proud Boys, augmented by a bunch of Anarcho-Capitalists motivated entirely by a desire to spite Antifa, milled about awkwardly behind two rows of police barricades while a dozen Boulder PD in riot gear stood behind them and 200 angry counter protestors yelled at them. Why all the outcry over the Proud Boys?

The Proud Boys are an adult fraternity created by Gavin McInnes. The group functions like any fraternity. It has its own initiation rites, which include a public declaration of one’s Proud Boy status, a watered-down “jumping in” during which the initiate is expected to recite breakfast cereals, receiving a Proud Boy tattoo, getting into a fight with anti-fascists, and abstaining from masturbation. From the outside it seems like the kind of ridiculous extracurricular activity that is written off as “boys being boys” for white men, but seen as “thuggish” behavior when performed by people of color. Unfortunately, the Proud Boys are more than just a bro-ey social club. They’re known for being agents of political violence, and though they publicly disavow ties to white supremacy (they have a black friend!) founder Gavin McInnes is friendly with notorious white supremacist Richard Spencer and has featured Nathan Damigo, the Identity Europa Nazi who punched a woman at Berkeley, on his show. People are judged by the company they keep, and Gavin McInnes keeps company with some fashy fucking Nazis.

The Colorado Proud Boys are no different, because in their barricaded, police-protected white dude safe space they were rubbing elbows with some hardcore Colorado Nazis.

The man in the black and yellow shirt, which reads “Proud to be Fascist” and features a totenkopf of the Nazi SS, is William Scott Planer. The man in the gray shirt and aviators is Josh Yeakal. Both are frequent posters on the Daily Stormer, and are legitimate, “no-I’m-not-being-hyperbolic-liberal-they-literally-want-to-kill-anyone-who-isn’t-white” Nazis. Both took part in a “Free Speech Rally” put on by the Colorado Proud Boys. Next time someone tells you that the Proud Boys are “just some bros drinking some beers” you can tell them to get fucked. The Proud Boys go to great lengths to publicly distance themselves from any kind of white-supremacist or Neo-Nazi association, but those are just efforts at plausible deniability. Police Departments do the same thing.

The Proud Boys are a fascist group. They’re not the Klan or Identity Europa or the National Policy Institute, but they are a stepping stone. They’re a group where young white men can try on the trappings of white supremacy without going “full Nazi.” When the media talks about the radicalization of white men, the Proud Boys are part of that. Last week in Portland, Oregon, a radicalized white supremacist killed two people. The Proud Boys and the violent, reactionary members of the Alt-Right are a danger to their communities. This is not slander or defamation, this is exactly what is happening.

So who else was hanging out in a public space (where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, you litigious fucks) with known Neo-Nazis?

The big fella with the “Working Class Against Antifa” sign is Martin Moyles of Colorado Springs.

In front of Moyles, in the pink shirt, tan hat, and glasses is John Sexton of Colorado Springs.

One of the only members of the event to show up in the official Proud Boys uniform, which definitely doesn’t make you look like a fascist, is Luke Rohlfing.

So Martin Moyles, John Sexton, Luke Rohlfing, and a couple other members of the Colorado Proud Boys held a rally in Boulder and let Nazis William Scott Planer and Josh Yeakal tag along. Planer has bragged on the Daily Stormer about his desire to start up a Traditionalist Workers Party chapter in Colorado. The Proud Boys are literally helping the Nazis organize in public, so fuck the Proud Boys.

We are kind of disappointed the Boulder PD squashed the Proud Boys dreams of glory by denying them the ability to bring their LARPING gear to the rally. Maybe next time, boys.

The shield model is Luke Purswell of Colorado Springs.

EDIT: Video footage of the Proud Boys’ harrowing escape.