EXCLUSIVE: Proud Boys Suing SPLC Over ‘Hate Group’ Designation

A conservative fraternal organization is suing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) after the Alabama non-profit labeled it “hate group.”

“We are taking legal action against the SPLC and we are going to win,” Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio said.

“The SPLC is the glue holding together all the media lies used against us and many others,” Tarrio continued. “Dishonest reporters use SPLC ‘designations’ and lists like they hold some official weight. But the SPLC isn’t some kind of hate barometer. They are not a group of scientists measuring extremism. The SPLC is a far-left advocacy group that advances its own agenda in pursuit of donor money.”

The Proud Boys are crowdfunding the lawsuit.

“Donate today to help fight the fake news frenzy to defame and destroy the Proud Boys,” the group’s legal defense website says. “Your donation today will help preserve the honor and legacy of one of America’s finest organizations.”

Tarrio and the Proud Boys will announce the legal action near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where the viral video of the Covington Catholic High School boys was filmed. The boys were approached by a Native American man beating a drum in their faces, and were subsequently vilified by mainstream press, which chose only to play a short clip of the altercation.

Tarrio said:

We chose this location to make an announcement today for a reason.  Right here is where the viral video of the Covington Catholic School kids was filmed.  That video perfectly illustrates the situation conservatives find themselves in today.

For the first week after the video came out, the mainstream media gleefully played a doctored version of the footage. They said again and again it proved the nasty and racist nature of Trump supporters. But astute viewers could tell something was off.

The Covington video turned out the great eye-opener of the year. We all know now that it was not a case of the evil white male oppressing everyone in earshot, but the opposite. It was the leftist mob run amok.  And when the filter of the media was removed, everyone saw the rip off they’d been sold.

He also said that the group is considering legal action against other organizations, including Facebook, The Daily Beast, BBC, Chase Bank, and far-left Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King. Chase Bank abruptly closed Tarrio’s account in February, and a later Project Veritas exposé found that the bank has standards in place to close accounts based on political leanings.

Tarrio, who is Afro-Cuban, mocked those who he says have slandered the group.

“Our enemies, who are mostly privileged and white, had to invent a new term to describe us: ‘Multi-racial white supremacists,'” he said.

Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, is currently embroiled in a suit against the SPLC on similar legal grounds.

The legal non-profit is reeling after it was rocked by internal strife in March. Its founder, Morris Dees, was drummed out of the organization following complaints that women and minorities were not well represented among high-ranking staff. Soon after Dees’ departure, SPLC president Richard Cohen resigned.


Follow Peter D’Abrosca on Twitter: @pdabrosca

Like Peter D’Abrosca on Facebook: facebook.com/peterdabrosca

Preorder Peter D’Abrosca’s Book: Enemies: The Press vs. The American People”

Our Latest Articles