'Proud Boys' can still attend Donald Trump rallies – but no logos allowed
WASHINGTON – Security officials at a Donald Trump-headlined rally over the weekend appeared to block the entry of a man who wore a shirt adorned with the logo of the Proud Boys until he reversed the shirt to hide any identification of the extremist far-right group.
In a viral video that underscored the complicated relationship between the ex-president and nationalist groups, a man heard but not seen said Trump organizers invited him to the event held Saturday in Casper, Wyoming.
"You’re kidding me, right? The Trump campaign gave us VIP tickets!" the man said. "This is really happening? Can I ask why Proud Boys aren’t allowed?”
One security official told the man: "You can't have any logos or insignia ... It's the logo – it's the shirt."
USA TODAY was unable to verify who taped the video.
Members of most any organization – including extremist groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers and followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory – are allowed at Trump rallies, but they cannot wear clothes or carry signs advertising any non-Trump related organizations, said Trump officials and the security officers.
The former president's messaging on extremist groups has been mixed, including during a 2020 debate with now-President Joe Biden in which Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by." The group took the statement as a call to arms, emblazoning it across merchandise and bragging about their status on social media.
Previously: Trump defends response to Charlottesville violence, says he put it 'perfectly' with 'both sides' remark
The Wyoming incident took place at a rally for U.S. House candidate Harriet Hageman, who is challenging incumbent – and Trump critic – Rep. Liz Cheney.
People familiar with security at Trump rallies said organizers have long forbidden outside groups from displaying non-Trump logos of any kind, whether it's a nonendorsed candidate, a politically-minded nonprofit organization or extremist groups like the Proud Boys.
The idea, they said, is to control the messaging of the event.
However, that policy has not always been in force, with photos showing Q or other logos at Trump events through the years.
Some extremist groups are supportive of Trump and cited his inspiration as a reason to breach the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
The no-logo policy is also a way to insulate Trump from these organizations, said Ron Filipkowski, a Florida-based attorney who monitors Trump's political activity and extremist organizations and who tweeted out the video of the Wyoming incident.
"It’s a bad look for them," Filipkowski said.
Trump's team is "very conscious of what is shown on camera," he said. "Everyone who sits directly behind Trump is specifically selected. Also the networks that cover them - RSBN, Real America’s Voice, Newsmax - go out of their way to try to avoid interviewing" members of groups like Q-Anon or the Proud Boys.
Filipkowski said he found the video on social media, but he and aides have not been able to learn the man's name.
In an extended version of the video Filipkowski shared with USA TODAY, the man is seen, in shadow, taking off his shirt, reversing it and wearing it with the logo hidden, allowing him entry to the event.
Proud Boys, prison and Jan. 6
After rising to prominence before the 2020 presidential election, the Proud Boys have been muted in the 16 months since the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The organization has been hobbled by civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions related to the riot, and most of its leaders are in prison facing trial.
In April, Henry Tarrio, who goes by Enrique and who used to be the national chairman of the Proud Boys, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges related to Jan. 6. He is one of six senior Proud Boys charged with the conspiracy, one of the most serious prosecutions brought by the federal government against Jan. 6 defendants.
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To the extent the Proud Boys ever had a national spokesperson, it was Tarrio, who is in custody awaiting trial. In his wake, nobody has openly stepped up to lead the organization, said Samantha Kutner, a lead researcher at the Khalifa Ihler Institute, a think tank that studies approaches to combating extremism.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t some organization going on behind the scenes, Kutner, who has studied the Proud Boys for years, said.
“There does appear to be some coordination,” she said, “I think it's important to see how they're re-coagulating – how they're trying to reform, regroup, re-strategize."
Members of the Proud Boys are still sporadically showing up at conservative events, but for more than a year now some chapters have told their members not to appear in public in the group’s trademark yellow and black colors.
On Wednesday, dozens of Proud Boys channels on the secure messaging app Telegram were silent about the video apparently showing a member nearly being turned away from a Trump rally. A USA TODAY analysis of Proud Boys accounts on social media also showed no signs of the group discussing the event.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Proud Boys' can attend Donald Trump rallies – but no logos allowed
