They're Organized. They're Smart. The Proud Boys Storm Back.

The Proud Boys, America's would-be Brown Shirts, are taking a page out of resistance movements' play book.  

Today the D.C. Attorney-General filed a civil lawsuit against the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers for their role in the January 6th storming of the US Capitol.  

Unfortunately the organization the AG is pursuing is dissolving. They're reforming into cells, much like the French Maquis in World War II. The idea was if the Nazis or French authorities managed to infiltrate a resistance cell they could only take down the members of that one cell, individuals who never shared the identity of members of other cells. (It was far from perfect)

They showed up last month outside the school board building in Beloit, Wis., to protest school masking requirements.

They turned up days later at a school board meeting in New Hanover County, N.C., before a vote on a mask mandate.

They also attended a gathering in Downers Grove, Ill., where parents were trying to remove a nonbinary author’s graphic novel from public school libraries.

Members of the Proud Boys, the far-right nationalist group, have increasingly appeared in recent months at town council gatherings, school board presentations and health department question-and-answer sessions across the country. Their presence at the events is part of a strategy shift by the militia organization toward a larger goal: to bring their brand of menacing politics to the local level

...since federal authorities have cracked down on the group for the Jan. 6 attack, including arresting more than a dozen of its members, the organization has been more muted. Or at least that was how it appeared.

Away from the national spotlight, the Proud Boys instead quietly shifted attention to local chapters, some members and researchers said. In small communities — usually suburbs or small towns with populations of tens of thousands — its followers have tried to expand membership by taking on local causes. That way, they said, the group can amass more supporters in time to influence next year’s midterm elections.

The group had dissolved its national leadership after Jan. 6 and was being run exclusively by its local chapters, Mr. Bertino said. It was deliberately involving its members in local issues, he added.

Other far-right groups that were active during Mr. Trump’s presidency, such as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, have followed the same pattern, researchers said. They have also expanded their local groups in states such as Pennsylvania, Texas and Michigan and are less visible nationally.

“We’ve seen these groups adopt new tactics in the wake of Jan. 6, which have enabled them to regroup and reorganize themselves,” said Jared Holt, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab who researches domestic extremist groups. “One of the most successful tactics they’ve used is decentralizing.”

Breaking Up Isn't So Hard to Do.

After the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the group grew disillusioned with Mr. Trump. The president distanced himself from the riot and declined to offer immunity to those who were involved. The Proud Boys have also experienced a leadership vacuum, after Mr. Tarrio was arrested two days before the Capitol attack on charges of property destruction and illegally holding weapons.

That was when the Proud Boys began concentrating on local issues, Mr. Holt said. But as local chapters flourished, he said, the group “increased their radical tendencies” because members felt more comfortable taking extreme positions in smaller circles.

The Intimidation Game.

At some local meetings where the Proud Boys have shown up, they have spoken and threatened community leaders, according to news reports. At others, they have simply stood silently and watched. In the Telegram groups, some boasted that they had handed out their cellphone numbers to those interested in joining them.

Often, their presence has been enough to disrupt events. Last month, the school board in Beloit, Wis., said it canceled classes because some of the Proud Boys were at a local protest over mask requirements. In Orange County, Calif., the school board said in September that it would install metal detectors and hire extra security after several Proud Boys attended a meeting and threatened its members.

Recruiting.

Agitation is their drawing card. It is how the Proud Boys attract new members. When they joined the attack on the Capitol they bit off more than they can chew - for now. They've wised up and set their sights on local authority where they can get away with some muscle, intimidation and outright threats.

It is within these local cells that they can become more radical, more freely champion white nationalism and rightwing authoritarianism. a.k.a. fascism.

As for Canada's Proud Boys it's hard to know what's going on. The group was declared a terrorist group earlier this year and has since disbanded. Canadian Proud Boys denied they embraced white supremacy or did anything that could be considered terrorism.