A handful of chapters from the right-wing group “Proud Boys” have splintered off from the group after finding out that the group’s leader was a “prolific” informant for the FBI and other local law enforcement agencies, Right Wing Watch’s Karim Zidan reports.
Late last month, Reuters reported that Enrique Tarrio was an informant for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover after he was arrested in 2012. Tarrio reportedly helped authorities prosecute “more than a dozen people” in cases that involved drugs, gambling and human smuggling.
Four chapters of the Indiana Proud Boys, as well as the Tulsa Proud Boys in Oklahoma, have released “public declarations of separation,” according to Zidan.
“We condemn the actions of Tarrio while cooperating with federal law enforcement as a confidential informant,” the Tulsa Proud Boys wrote on Telegram. “We will continue to operate as Proud Boys but recognize no centralized leader or leadership beyond chapter officers … We are not a criminal organization, militia, fight club or political movement. We are merely a men’s drinking club.”
The Indiana Proud Boys stated that they “reject and disavow the proven federal informant, Enrique Tarrio, and any and all chapters that choose to associate with him.”
“We do not recognize the assumed authority of any national Proud Boy leadership including the Chairman, the Elders, or any subsequent governing body that is formed to replace them until such a time we may choose to consent to join those bodies of government,” the group also wrote on Telegram. “We were created to be a men’s drinking fraternity that focuses on self-improvement and brotherhood. This is what we will continue to be.”
See advertising below:
