Every accusation is a confession.
In an attempt to inoculate yourself from criticism, you can always preemptively accuse "the other side of doing what you're planning to do (even if the other side doesn't actually exist), which gives you a potent combo - Straw Man plus Projection.
The Right Radicals love to pimp the big scary "AntiFa" boogeyman. Just as they love pimping the Caravans and the gun-grabbers and Sharia Law and and and.
Fuck that shit - we have to be smarter than that.
The Proud Boys want the public to believe that they’re a “drinking club” who only resort to violence to defend themselves from anti-fascist protesters during political rallies.
But in private, these extremists have discussed injuring and even killing their adversaries, plotting tactics and optics for months in order to assert a claim of self-defense should they face charges.
According to private chat logs obtained exclusively by HuffPost, the punch-happy, pro-Trump street gang was particularly excited for its “Resist Marxism” rally, scheduled for April 6 in Providence, Rhode Island. With the right plan of attack, members said, this one could put them back on the map.
The group had been floundering ever since 10 of its members were arrested for assaulting protesters outside a GOP event in New York City last year. Their leader, Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, reportedly arranged for his followers’ surrender.
In the chats, covering a time period between February and March of this year, members claimed they needed a conclusive “win” this time around, which they defined as a bloody battle against “antifa” in Providence. If this brawl were bigger and more violent than previous iterations, they might regain some of the street cred and followers they’d lost.
“We’ll grow this group of patriots and we’ll never back down,” wrote the event’s organizer, Proud Boys member Alan Swinney, in the private chat messages. “If we win, it will make more patriots come to the next rally. We just need to go there and we’ll beat them. We’ll have enough to crush them at some point.”
The piece goes on
The Proud Boys repeatedly acknowledged that their plans could get them in trouble.
“I advise all of you to only speak in terms of self-defense and never speak of premeditated violence,” wrote a man who identified himself as Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman, an extremist who has previously been convicted of violent felonies and is known for his attacks at rallies and repeated parole violations, among other crimes.
He added: “I could be liable for what happens in Providence. So please stop making it easy for these people to prosecute us by putting threats of violence in writing that can be used against us later.”
Few seemed to listen, and leaders like Swinney had to attempt damage control on a regular basis.
- and -
In an interview, Swinney corroborated the authenticity of chat screenshots HuffPost showed him and said he personally agreed with statements about “smashing commies” like Mastrostefano’s.
“He specifically said ‘when the time comes,’” Swinney told HuffPost, adding later: “When the time comes, and the order is given, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop these people. The constitution is the greatest document of freedom ever written. I’ll give my life to defend it if nessicary [sic].”
NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES Proud Boy Alan Swinney at a rally.
Swinney also confirmed that the Proud Boys had been planning another rally in Providence, which they hoped to hold June 1, but which now appears to be on the rocks if not canceled. He said he wouldn’t be going due to his personal monetary woes, which he blamed on “the left, SPLC and feds.”
Ed Note:
I can find no reports of a Proud Boys rally in June 2020
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