Despite Arrests And Setbacks, Far-Right Proud Boys Press New

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, holds a U.S. flag during a July protest in Miami as part of a show of solidarity for Cubans who were demonstrating against their government in Cuba.

Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images

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Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, holds a U.S. flag during a July protest in Miami as part of a show of solidarity for Cubans who were demonstrating against their government in Cuba.

Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images

Cassie Miller recalls wondering if she misheard then-President Donald Trump during a contentious exchange in last year’s first presidential debate.

Trump was asked to denounce far-right groups, including the Proud Boys, a violent, all-male organization that Miller had been tracking for years as a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Trump responded by telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” She knew that would thrust a relatively unknown extremist group into the American public’s consciousness.

“In the aftermath of that, suddenly everyone was talking about who the Proud Boys were and people were submitting applications to join the group,” said Miller.

The SPLC, which designates the Proud Boys a hate group, estimates that there are more than 40 chapters across the country, which operate semi-autonomously.

Researchers say membership likely falls well below the 40,000 the Proud Boys have claimed, but they hesitate to venture any guess as to where it currently hovers. Nonetheless, many analysts say that the 12 months that followed Trump’s notorious statement have, overall, been a period of growth for the Proud Boys.

“The election period was a massive spike of Proud Boys activity in the street that honestly started right after that debate,” said Hampton Stall, senior researcher with the Armed Conflict Location Event Data Project (ACLED), a private group that collects information on violence worldwide.

ACLED data indicate that between October and January, the Proud Boys became visible to a degree previously unseen. In November alone, the tracking project found that members of the group made more than 40 outdoor appearances at activities such as protests, demonstrations and riots.

Often they were tied to “stop the steal” efforts. Miller said the coordination of these activities, from…