ICE And The Proud Boys

 

Amanda Marcotte, writing in Salon.com, describes the relationship between ICE and the street fighting right-wing thug organization, the Proud Boys, the participants in the January 6 insurrection.  She describes them as a "fledgling community of wannabe brownshirts" and "deadbeats and losers," and describes how the zealous, cosplaying fascist leader of Homeland Security, Kristi "ICE Barbie" Noem, has adopted their style and manner.  An excerpt, but please read her entire article:

"I’m far from the first observer to notice how much ICE, under the leadership of Homeland Security Secretary — and proud dog-killer — Kristi Noem, has come to resemble the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group founded by Gavin McInnes in 2016. As Wired’s David Gilbert wrote in response to ICE’s recent invasion of Minneapolis, the reason we haven’t seen a resurgence of the Proud Boys in Trump’s second term is that the president’s 'militarization' of ICE and 'embrace of white nationalist rhetoric' leaves the group 'without a role to play.'

ICE’s current aesthetics owe much to the Proud Boys, from the masks they use to hide their identity and their corny but racist language about 'heritage' to their attachment to the phrase 'FAFO,' which is short for 'eff around and find out.' But Kristi Noem hasn’t just changed the way ICE presents itself. The tactics the agency now uses and the ideas fueling its mission are eerily identical to the vision of the Proud Boys that McInnes laid out from the group’s very beginnings." (our emphasis)

ICE's recruitment campaign is in full swing, and it's targeting the same "losers" and "deadbeats" that populate the Proud Boys and other violent, far right-wing groups like the Oath Keepers, Patriot Front, and militia groups.  (A recent report that Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio was an ICE office has since been disputed). 

It's easy to watch the actions of ICE officers harassing and beating people from LA to Chicago to Minneapolis, and have strong memories of the Proud Boys and their ilk storming the Capitol on January 6.  They're cut from the same dirty cloth.