We are Proud Boys How a right-wing street gang ushered in a new era of American extremism

Review by Choice Review

This breezily written polemic by New York--based "extremism journalist" Campbell (HuffPost) tells the story of the Proud Boys, a right-wing political and social organization. Campbell tags them as a "fascist street gang" that has become almost inexplicably interwoven with Republican Party politics. Early on, the book introduces the founder, Gavin McInnes, tracing his transformation from one of the moguls behind the Vice media empire to the cult-like leader of the Proud Boys, espousing a doctrine of barely disguised bigotry with the euphemistic title of "Western chauvinism." Other chapters profile a handful of leaders and followers, detail the group's "playbook" of maintaining a veneer of respectability while disseminating violence at public events, and recount the Proud Boys' central role in key moments in recent right-wing violence, from Charlottesville to January 6. Campbell does not offer enough depth to fully establish his thesis that the Proud Boys are the key to understanding right-wing extremism in the United States. Still, this empirical account offers a compelling introduction to central figures in the normalization of political violence in contemporary America. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers. --Richard J. Meagher, Randolph-Macon College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

HuffPost journalist Campbell debuts with a searing report on the rise of the Proud Boys during the Trump era. Launched by Vice magazine founder Gavin McInnes in 2016, the Proud Boys are, Campbell writes, "a street gang, motivated almost entirely by political violence and bigotry." Members, who earn their "degrees" within the group mainly through violent acts, took leading roles in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and the January 6 Capitol riot. In addition to explaining how the Proud Boys gained mainstream influence through "interpersonal relationships with the media, law enforcement, and the GOP, all the way up to Trump's inner circle," Campbell profiles those working to counter the group, including Black Lives Matter activist Jalane Schmidt; researcher Juliet Jeske, who analyzed hundreds of hours of The Gavin McInnes Show and shared her findings with the media; and infiltrators like Ashley (no last name given), a "Democrat-turned-antifascist" who pretended to be an " 'idiot' drenched in spray tan" to get invited to Proud Boy events. Riddled with jaw-dropping examples of the group's extreme rhetoric and violent actions, this is a distressing and doggedly reported account of the dangers of political extremism. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Oct.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

HuffPost's Campbell, who reports on crime and extremism, writes about the Proud Boys in his first book. He describes them as a right-wing street-fighting gang associated with opposition to any liberal cause, which coalesced in the Trump era and have been deployed by some Republicans. He documents their active roles in violent riots in Washington, DC, Seattle, and Charlottesville, where a woman was killed. They also participated in the January 6 insurrection, where Campbell argues they showed their organizational skills by appearing as a disciplined, uniformed group entering the U.S. Capitol with the intent of delaying or canceling the transfer of presidential power; at least five of the group have been charged with sedition in federal court. While certainly not the last word on the Proud Boys, Campbell's work provides perspective and history. VERDICT Libraries with current political events collections will be interested; also valuable for libraries documenting the Trump era.--Edwin Burgess

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Journalistic account of the rise of the increasingly influential--and virulent--far-right cabal whose members "have been on a yearslong fascist march." "I think there's not enough violence in today's day and age." So declared Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes in late 2016. HuffPost writer Campbell has for years been following what in essence was a street gang gone viral, one named, with due irony, after a song from the Disney movie Aladdin, performed at a school performance by "a twelve-year-old boy with brown skin." By the author's account, a mere non-White complexion is enough to set McInnes into paroxysms of rage, since the Proud Boys are among the chief fomenters of the "replacement theory" that holds that White people are being crowded out of America by members of one-time ethnic minorities. The loosely knit but growing group's vision of the world may be "chaotic," writes Campbell, but the threat they represent to their political enemies--i.e., anyone to their left--is real. As McInnes once proclaimed, "We will kill you, that's the Proud Boys in a nutshell. We look nice, we seem soft, we have 'boys' in our name, but like Bill the Butcher and the Bowery Boys, we will assassinate you." The group's leadership in the 2017 Charlottesville riots and its de facto bodyguard status for Donald Trump at the storming of the Capitol have yielded plenty of legal trouble, with conspiracy charges leveled at 17 members for their roles in the latter event. Still, Campbell suggests, Jan. 6 was only a warm-up. Even as the Proud Boys are "working to sanitize their image," they continue to create chaos at school board meetings, women's health clinics, and statehouses. More disturbingly, their numbers are growing, and they have become "the most successful political extremist group in the digital age." Right-wing politics are scary now, but this well-researched account foresees an even darker future. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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