Proud Boys Members Plotted Ways to Injure Protesters at April Rally: Report

Private chats between about 30 Proud Boys members and allies show that they discussed using physical violence against “antifa” at an April rally, HuffPost reports. The website reports members talked about their April “Resist Marxism” rally in Providence, Rhode Island, as being a sort of comeback after 10 members were arrested at a New York City GOP event. “We just need to go there and we’ll beat them. We’ll have enough to crush them at some point,” Proud Boys event organizer Alan Swinney wrote in one message. Member Anthony Mastrostefano wrote that he was looking forward to “smash[ing] commies” at the rally. “Actually I’m lying, I’m way past just hitting them,” he said. “When the time comes I will stop at nothing to fully eradicate them all!” Another Proud Boys member, Shaun Hufton, made a direct threat to an anti-fascist Twitter activist, calling the activist a “mother f--ker” that needed to “meet a 7mm [Magnum rifle] from about 500 yards.” Member Peter Scott told Hufton not to send any threats or the “feds will use it against [them] in court.” The April rally was ultimately canceled.

This comes after members announced Monday that they would be suing the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling the Proud Boys as a hate group. “We’re a drinking club that stands behind Donald Trump,” Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio said. “That’s enough to earn hate of the left.”