CT ‘Proud Boys’ say they gave to coat drive
State shelters deny accepting any donations from hate group
A group identifying themselves as members of the Connecticut chapter of the Proud Boys have said they did a coat drive, but the homeless shelters to which they claim they donated say they would have not accepted donations from the group.
“We haven’t accepted any coats this season. We have a huge supply of really wonderful coats,” said Kandyce Aust, director of development at the South Park Inn, a Hartford-based homeless shelter. “We wouldn't take anything from them if they called us. There’s no one that’s donated so far this year that I haven’t personally known.”
A news release was issued by email from a group identifying itself as the Proud Boys Connecticut Chapter. The group said they donated hats, blankets, coats, gloves and more to an array of homeless shelters in the Hartford area.
Included in the email were a series of photos. The faces of the individuals in the photos were blurred out and, when contacted, a representative declined to identify any members of the group.
“That kinda says something, doesn't it? I must have posed for about 10 photos today and no one was blacking out their faces,” Aust said. “Creepy.”
Marilyn Rossetti, executive director of The Open Hearth, another Hartford- area homeless shelter to which the group said they donated, agreed.
“Anonymous is for cowards,” she said.
A representative, who identified himself only as “Sawyer,” said “We operate with anonymity as much as possible for the safety of ourselves, our families, our business, jobs, etc.”
When asked why the anonymity was necessary,
“Sawyer” said reprisals might include “anything from being fired, losing support for business owners, doxing, ostracizing, personal attacks or private property attacks.”
In addition to refusing to identify himself or any members of his chapter, “Sawyer” refused to say how many members there were.
“I can't give you exact numbers but it is large, much larger than most people would think,” he said.
Vegas Tenold, an investigative researcher with the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said touting ostensibly good works in the hopes of gaining members and mentions in the press is a common tactic for the Proud Boys nationally, though he called the anonymity “bizarre.”
“Obviously they don’t really know how press releases work,” he said.
Cassie Miller, a senior research analyst with the Southern Policy Law Center, said she could “pretty safely say” that there is a Proud Boys chapter in Connecticut. As of 2019, there were chapters in 44 states.
“The tactic that you’re encountering I don’t think is all that new,” she said, describing the goal to “show that they can be trusted that they have the community’s best interests at heart, and to “manipulate the press into giving them positive attention.”
“We’ve seen this from a lot of militia groups out west,” she said.
In their news release, and on the conservative social media platform Parler, the Proud Boys’ Connecticut chapter defines their values as “minimal government,” “closed borders,” “venerating the housewife” and “reinstating a spirit of western chauvinism,” among other issues.
“They have overlapping forms of bigotry,” Miller said, including “rabidly anti-Muslim beliefs.
“They believe that men, and western men in particular, are responsible for creating the modern world.”
The Proud Boys do claim to be “anti-racism” and “anti-racial guilt,” and the national chairman, Enrique Tarrio, is a person of color. In documents made publicn is 2018, the FBI classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.
Miller said the group has a long history of violence, going into cities holding rallies “in the name of big political principals like freedom of speech,” as an excuse to incite violence. Most recently, the group was credited with violent clashes in Washington D.C.
The intent, Tenold said, is to “sell the narrative as being the first line of defense against a violent, militant left.”
Indeed, “Sawyer,” when asked who might act against members of the group, said “the obvious answer would be Antifa, or extreme BLM activist, but anyone with a left-leaning political view that doesn't know the truth of who and what we and our organization are could put us at risk.”
The truth, Tenold said, is much simpler.
“They are a violent street gang, and despite how they want to come across as conservatives in favor of law and order, they have a long history of violence and racism,” he said. “They’re tricky but we don’t want to play into their narrative by calling them ‘white supremacists.’ Their bread and butter is to be a violent street gang.”
According to “Sawyer,” members of the group did identify themselves as Proud Boys when they delivered the results of their coat drive.
“While donating we only identified ourselves if asked, we did tell multiple places, and filled out donation cards under Proud Boys,” he said.
“While donating I made sure at least one of our members in the crews I sent out to drop off donations wore his colors and it was clear that he was a Proud Boy.”
But none of the shelters to which “Sawyer” said the group donated said they were aware of such a donation.
“We would never take anything from an organization like that,” Rossetti said. “We have strict rules about drop-offs.”
Both Rossetti and Louis Gilbert, executive director of Hartford- area shelter ImmaCare, said it’s possible, if someone appeared unannounced on a weekend, but both also said they had no records of such a donation and would not have accepted one from the group.
“I don’t even know I’d want to take them if I knew where it comes from,” Gilbert said, not wanting to “give legitimacy” to the organization.
“I would absolutely not accept a donation,” Rossetti said. “You do take a stand on certain things.”
“I’m at a loss for words,” she said.