Since its foundation in , members of the Proud Boys , a far-right , neo-fascist , and exclusively male organization, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] have been involved in a number controversial and violent events. This list contains a number of those events, some of which have resulted in criminal charges being filed against participants. Minor scuffles broke out between the Proud Boys and antifa protesters, and the NYPD said that eleven people faced criminal charges.
One member of the Proud Boys who encouraged others to fight the "faggots wearing black that won't let us in" was later arrested for punching a reporter from DNAinfo. At the March 4 Trump rally in Berkeley, California , Kyle Chapman was recorded hitting a counter-protester over the head with a wooden dowel.
Images of Chapman went viral, and the Proud Boys organized a crowdfunding campaign for Chapman's bail after his arrest. On April 15, , an alt-right rally was organized in Berkeley by the Liberty Revival Alliance, which did not seek or receive a permit, and was attended by members of the Proud Boys, Identity Evropa an American neo-Nazi group [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] and Oath Keepers an anti-government far-right group.
Indigenous activists had previously protested at the site and called for the removal of the statue because of Cornwallis's actions against Natives , including ordering a bounty for scalps of Mi'kmaq people. The Proud Boys carried the Canadian Red Ensign flag from the time of Cornwallis and one of them said to the indigenous protesters: "You are recognising your heritage and so are we. General Jonathan Vance , the head of the CAF, announced an investigation, [ 18 ] [ 19 ] Rear Admiral John Newton, Commander of the Maritime Fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy , was "personally horrified" by the incident and said the Proud Boys were "clearly a white supremacist group and we fundamentally stand opposed to any of their values.
In July , the Proud Boys joined a caravan to ride through Islamberg, New York , a community of around twenty black Muslim families who moved upstate to escape the crime and racism of New York City, and which has been a target of conspiracy theories from various Islamophobic hate groups and right-wing terrorist plots.
