Proud Boys and Oath Keepers: Who are the groups sued for the assault on the US Capitol?

Shortly after one year of the assault on the Capitol of U.S the fence is closing on the figures accused of participating in that day of insurrection and commotion. On January 6, 2021, furious followers of Donald Trump they attacked the police and invaded Congress seeking to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Five people were killed and more than 100 officers were injured. The scenes penetrated the depths of the country.

Thus, the Washington city government has just filed a civil lawsuit against two far-right groups, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, for their role in the violent invasion of the Capitol. The goal is to hold those responsible to account for the “physical and financial” damages to the District of Columbia, where Washington is located, to discourage future acts of violence and to compensate the victims.

The attorney general of the District of Columbia, Karl Racine, explained that, in total, the lawsuit also seeks to hold more than 30 leaders of these ultra-rightist groups responsible. “For conspiring to terrorize” to the District of Columbia, interfere “Illegally” with the peaceful transition of power in the country and attacking the officers who defended the Capitol.

According to the demand, “The attack on January 6 was a coordinated act of internal terrorism” and the city of washington was forced “To face the consequences” of this attack.

But the problems for these groups do not stop there. The House committee investigating the uprising on Capitol Hill this week issued subpoenas to members of the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and other extremist organizations, in an attempt to uncover the organization and execution of the attack.

Although these are the strongest blows that the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have received, their history of violence and prominence does not stop there. Below we review the scope that these have had and still maintain in the country.

The violent Proud Boys

Founded in 2016 by Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys are a violent, far-right nationalist group. Its members often wear distinctive black and yellow uniforms and have taken misogynistic, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic positions, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has classified it as a hate group.

“The Proud Boys and their senior and former leaders regularly launch white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with extremists. They are known for their anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings such as the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jason Kessler, a former member of the Proud Boys, helped organize that event, which brought together a broad coalition of extremists, including neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and militias.”Says the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors violence in the United States, on its website.

Currently the president of the group is Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, activist and director of Latinos for Trump in Florida. Tarrio is one of those who has been called to appear for the assault on the Capitol, although he has not been charged in relation to the riots since he was not at the scene on January 6.

His absence was due to the fact that he had been arrested for an unrelated vandalism case when he arrived in Washington two days earlier and a judge ordered him to leave the area. Security forces later said that Tarrio was taken into custody in part to help quell possible acts of violence.

During the 2020 elections, the Proud Boys were the largest and most public militias in the country and they did not hesitate to endorse Donald Trump, who even referred to them in a presidential debate when asked about white nationalist groups, and responded : “Proud guys, stay away and wait.”

However, since the assault on the Capitol and subsequent investigations, the group has lowered its national stake and has focused on garnering support at the local level. “Members of the Proud Boys have been appearing more and more in recent months at town hall meetings, school board presentations, and Health Department question-and-answer sessions across the country. Their presence at the events is part of a change in strategy by the militia organization towards a broader goal: to bring their type of threatening politics to the local level, ”says The New York Times.

The outlet adds that the group is still quite active on social media. He notes that on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, the main Proud Boys group in the United States has barely moved in number, with around 31,000 followers, over the past year. “But more than a dozen new Telegram channels have sprung up for local Proud Boys chapters in cities like Seattle and Philadelphia during that same period, according to data compiled by The New York Times. Those local Telegram groups have quickly grown from dozens to hundreds of members.”.

Los conspiracionistas Oath Keepers

The Oath Keepers, a decade-old anti-government militia group, are also targeted for the assault on the Capitol.

“The Oath Keepers, who claim tens of thousands of current and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, are one of the largest far-right anti-government groups in the United States today. While the group claims to uphold the Constitution, the entire Oath Keepers organization relies on a set of unfounded conspiracy theories about the federal government’s work to destroy the freedoms of Americans.”, dice Southern Poverty Law Center.

The organization adds that the group has made appearances during protests following police killings of African Americans in 2014, 2015 and 2020.

Although dozens of its members have been indicted for the seizure of the Capitol, the president of the group, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, granted an interview to the FBI against the advice of his lawyer and indicated that none of its members had intended to interrupt in the Congress.

Rhodes himself has a long history of using violent language, even calling for former Arizona Republican Senator John McCain to be hanged.

Despite their denials, authorities believe that Rhodes repeatedly suggested that the Oath Keepers should engage in acts of violence to ensure the election result of their choice.

The New York Times recalls that on October 27, Rhodes appeared on a show claiming that Democrats were stealing the election and that the Oath Keepers would protect Trump supporters at the polls.

“On November 10, Rhodes said he had “good men on the ground” in Washington ready to “come in” if Trump needed them. On Dec. 12, he called on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and warned that the Oath Keepers would wage a ‘much bloodier war’ if he did not, the committee said.”, Says the media.

What comes next?

Nearly all of those named in the Washington lawsuit are already the subject of federal criminal proceedings and could face trial in the coming months.

In addition, The New York Times notes that the fact that Congress has issued subpoenas to members of these groups reflects “the broad scope of the committee’s investigation, which investigates not only the role of the White House and Trump allies in the attack on the Capitol, but also the militia groups and rioters associated with them”.

In a blog post, Shannon Hiller, executive director of the Bridging Divides initiative based at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, stated that “It is clear that while law enforcement cannot be our complete solution to political violence, it does play an important role. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, for example, was not present on January 6 for the simple fact that he had been jailed for his actions on December 12”.

And he recalled that in November, far-right figures and organizations in the United States were ordered to pay more than $ 25 million to the victims of a protest they organized in Charlottesville in 2017 that led to a tragedy.

“The recent verdict in Charlottesville makes clear that civil lawsuits can also play an important role in disrupting political violence: the groups that helped incite violence in that city are unlikely to survive the financial impacts of being responsible for his actions“, he pointed.