WASHINGTON — For the first time since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, members of the far-right Proud Boys marched in the streets of D.C. Monday in celebration of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Carrying a large banner reading “Congratulations President Trump,” members of the Proud Boys – clad in their trademark yellow-and-black colors – paraded through downtown D.C. chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” and calling for the release of Jan. 6 defendants. Footage captured by primary source documentarian Ford Fischer shows the group marching through downtown D.C. and near the federal courthouse where all of the Jan. 6 trials have been held before ending up at the D.C. Jail.
The group has been largely absent from the D.C. area since dozens of its members, including the former national chairman of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, were charged with crimes ranging from assaulting police to seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol riot. In one of the government’s marquee Jan. 6 cases, Tarrio and several of his top lieutenants were convicted by a jury in May 2023 of plotting to incite the violence at the Capitol to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election. Tarrio, who was not in D.C. on Jan. 6 due to a court order in connection with another arrest, is currently serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison for his role at the top of the scheme.
The Proud Boys, who describe themselves as “Western chauvinists” and who have been involved in incidents of street violence around the country, have a history of attending pro-Trump events as far back as his first term in 2017. But it was a comment by Trump during a presidential debate in September 2020 that cemented, at least for the Proud Boys, the connection between the two.
Asked by moderator Chris Wallace if he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups who had shown up at protests during civil unrest that summer, Trump asked who Wallace wanted him to call out. When then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden said the Proud Boys, Trump responded with what the group later said it viewed as a rallying cry.
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Trump said.
However, Trump didn’t leave it there.
“But, I’ll tell you what… somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem,” Trump added.
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During the Jan. 6 Committee investigation following the Capitol riot, Jeremy Bertino – a high-ranking member of the group from North Carolina – testified that the Proud Boys saw Trump’s comment as a “call to arms” and that its ranks swelled “exponentially” afterward. Bertino, who was stabbed and seriously injured during an altercation involving the Proud Boys on the streets of D.C. following a pro-Trump rally in December 2020, later pleaded guilty to conspiring with other members of the group to violently stop the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6. Bertino testified as a key government witness at Tarrio’s trial in 2023 and was, as of Monday, still awaiting sentencing.
Prior to Jan. 6, the Proud Boys had a history of involvement in violent conflicts and property destruction in D.C. In November 2020, members of the group clashed with counter-protesters following the so-called “Million MAGA March” in support of Trump. A month later, on the same evening Bertino was stabbed, members of the Proud Boys tore down a Black Lives Matter banner from the historic Asbury United Methodist Church and burned it. Tarrio was arrested in connection with the banner burning just two days before the Jan. 6 riot and later served five months in prison after pleading guilty in the case. In December, former DC Police intelligence head Lt. Shane Lamond was convicted by a federal judge of leaking information to Tarrio about the banner-burning investigation and then lying to investigators about their relationship.
Before Monday, the Proud Boys’ last significant public appearance in the D.C. region was in February 2023, when members of the group targeted a drag queen storybook hour at Loyalty Books in Silver Spring, Maryland. Attendees told WUSA9 the Proud Boys became violent and kicked and pushed members of the community who showed up to prevent them from entering the store, although Montgomery County police said no arrests were made.