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At the first 2020 presidential debate, Donald Trump was explicitly asked to denounce the white supremacists and rightwing militia groups that passionately support him. While an average person would expect this to be a straightforward answer, Trump, once again, failed to answer unambiguously. Instead he said: Proud Boys stand back and stand by. But Ill tell you what. Ill tell you what. Somebodys got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a rightwing problem. Rather than harnessing an opportunity to ratchet down the rhetoric and talking points of white power groups, Trumps not-very-coded language has actually energized Proud Boys and similar alt-right groups.

The Proud Boys, for those unfamiliar, are a self-described western chauvinist mens club established in 2016 by Gavin McInnes. The group sometimes paints itself as a wacky fraternal organization; in practice, it is much closer to a street gang, and McInnes has publicly described the group as a gang. Their gatherings tend to involve large amounts of drinking and violence. Members partake in unusual rituals to gain status within the group. They have a uniform (Fred Perry shirts), gang colors (black and yellow) and a mascot/symbol (a cockerel). Traditionally, the Proud Boys would be considered nothing more than a modernized version of racist skinheads. They package themselves, however, in a hipster persona that uses humor and irony to spread far-right talking points opposing feminism, immigration, political correctness and establishment politics.

The blogger Ken White coined something called the goat rule: if you ironically kiss a goat, you are still a goat-kisser. (We are paraphrasing his original language, which was slightly stronger.) The Proud Boys like to give the impression that they simply enjoy using caustic or ironic humor to trigger liberals and social justice warriors. But theyre not ironic, transgressive humorists or provocateurs; theyre goat-kissers who are racist and sexist.

From the perspective of the criminal justice system, the elements that form the Proud Boys collective identity are the same as the criteria that law enforcement agencies often use to designate street gangs. As gang experts and the authors of Alt-Right Gangs: A Hazy Shade of White, we think its extremely clear that the Proud Boys membership criteria, aesthetics and penchant for violence identify the group as a street gang. Yet the Proud Boys and other white power groups are not considered a criminal street gang by many police agencies and are generally absent in gang databases. This is especially concerning given that a 2006 FBI report found that some American police officers sympathize or even actively collaborate with far-right militias or white power groups.

Trumps recent overture to the Proud Boys is also troubling because of a phenomenon called Big Gang Theory. The Proud Boys are numerically small but, like a lot of gangs and splinter ideological groups, benefit from the (exaggerated) perception that they are highly organized, control a lot of territory and have members in many municipalities. This is reminiscent of the Hammerskins, the largest racist skinhead gang in the United States, which at its peak has probably never had more than about 500 members despite there being about 5,000 racist skinheads in the US.

Like the Hammerskins, the Proud Boys give off the impression that they are bigger and more imposing than they actually are, as evidenced by the lack of attendees at their recent rally in Portland. Trumps call for Proud Boys to stand by further plays into this embellished facade.

Trump is pulling this far-right group more and more into the mainstream, providing the Proud Boys with the opportunity to gather support from a far bigger pool of potential recruits, which they will then slowly expose to their white supremacist rhetoric and affirmation of violence. Trumps remarks also increase the risk that other extremist groups that are not as well-known as the Proud Boys will escalate their violence in order to gain similar attention.

In our current period of political and social uncertainty, the Proud Boys, other white power gangs, and far-right militias will continue to draw more people into oppositional politics. Trumps callous and deliberately ambiguous language, which far-right groups interpret as praise and endorsement, will only nurture more extremism.

Shannon E Reid is an associate professor of criminal justice and criminology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Matthew Valasik is an associate professor of sociology at Louisiana State University. They are the authors of Alt-Right Gangs: A Hazy Shade of White (University of California Press)

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The Proud Boys are a far-right gang. Trump boosted them on national TV - The Guardian