Police remove flags of hate group Proud Boys from overpasses on I-84, Connector in Boise

Boise police officers removed flags bearing the emblem of an organization widely criticized as a hate group from multiple interstate overpasses in the city last weekend.

Haley Williams, a spokesperson for the Boise Police Department, told the Idaho Statesman in an email that officers removed the flags, which were tied to the far-right Proud Boys group, on Saturday morning. The Proud Boys are classified as a hate group by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League, which say the Proud Boys espouse xenophobic views, including white nationalism and anti-Semitism. The group describes itself as “Western chauvinists.”

It wasn’t immediately clear who hung up the flags, which reportedly appeared at the Curtis Road overpass on Interstate 184 and from the Cloverdale overpass on Interstate 84. Williams said anyone with information is asked to contact BPD or Crime Stoppers.

Williams said the flags displayed the initials PB, a logo frequently seen on Proud Boys items, surrounded by a yellow laurel wreath.

It’s the second public display from the Proud Boys in Southern Idaho recently. The group made national headlines after participating in a Sagebrush Days parade in Buhl in early July. While some neighbors expressed concern over the Proud Boys’ participation, the Buhl Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the parade, told the (Twin Falls) Times-News it would not “feed into any negative propaganda” about the Proud Boys’ appearance.

Several members of the Proud Boys have been charged in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

It’s also the second time this year that an organization recognized as a hate group has hung banners from interstate overpasses in Boise. In January, Patriot Front members hung a banner from the Cloverdale overpass and posted photos on social media.