Dear Editor,
Remember the Proud Boys? A militant group of people that spout messages of Nationalistic Rhetoric while enabling their members to stand against every progressive organization that exists in America today. A large proponent of those who stormed the US Capital Building on January 6th, were Proud Boys. These militants are often members of ultra militant State Militias. The United States Government declared these folks as designated domestic terrorists at one time, but no longer.
The agency known as I.C.E. (immigration and Customs Enforcement) has been recruiting members of the Proud Boys for well over a year. These men and women are said to exemplify what I.C.E. requires of its operatives. That is emotionally cold, controlled manifestations of American Nationalism, anti migrant and criminal targets. These agents hunt down anyone who personifies the "other". What is the "other" you may ask?
The "other" stands as the complete opposite of the ideal a Stereo Typical American, that is a WASP, a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (acceptable to the present day administration). So anyone other than a W.A.S.P. is suspect and a target of I.C.E. Presently over half the population of America is considered an "other". Think about it, folks. Even if your family has been a resident in America for 100+ years, but your Hispanic, Black, Aboriginal, Asian or Arabic looking you are a target for the authorities watch dog I.C.E.
Being a part of this organization allows The Proud Boys to do what they do best, which is intimidate, beat down and harass citizens of America. They are being paid to do so as well. The authorities call them heroes and freedom fighters, trying to drive international criminals out of America while also arresting and deporting migrants (others) suspected of wrong-doing. Looking the part is enough to get someone arrested and deported.
Becoming an I.C.E. agent seems to be an easy thing according to former law enforcement employees recently laid off. The Trump Administration has enacted a massive deportation campaign centred around aggression and cruelty. The Proud Boys are perfect for the job, being anti undocumented immigrants, anti-protestors, anti-progressives. Tricia Mclaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson recently said "any individual who desires to join I.C.E. will undergo intense background checks and there will be no exceptions made". So, how are members of an extremist group entering the I.C.E. fellowship?
While there is no verifiable public figures to prove how many proud boys are I.C.E. agents, a well known leaked list of I.C.E. agents has pointed out that among the list of 4,500 members several hundred are officially former members of the Proud Boys and other right wing groups. There are 22,000 official members of I.C.E., with a further 12,000 contract agents added to the mix. Those members who are under contract have their identities and activities protected from public scrutiny, hidden in the shadows of an authoritarian administrations umbrella. If any of these people were present at the Siege of the Capital Buildings and charged criminally, the President of the USA has pardoned many of them. Donald Trump’s jackbooted Boys have evolved from hoodlums to law enforcement agents.
How can you know for certain that Proud Boys have a part in the authoritarian actions being carried out by I.C.E? Since Donald Trump became President for the second time, have you heard anything at all about this group in the media or FBI incidents rolls? This "in your face" group has remained silent. Why this change of tactics? Simply put, the Proud Boys and many other right wing extremist groups have become a part of the organ of government that is assaulting Americans their institutions and the very heart of the American Dream.
The Ohio Chapter of the Proud Boys declared publicly: "Toledo Boys are living high on the hog right now. Thank you, President Trump". With officers making up to $50,000 with sign-on bonuses and bonuses offered to those most effective in the hunt, The Proud Boys are definitely in the money.
Sources: The Atlantic, Reuters, Times Now and MSN.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
