By Mason Robert Dowless

This interdisciplinary research uses a mixed-method comparative-historical analysis to investigate the explosion of far-right militia activity during 2020-2021 through the Proud Boys. The Proud Boys are a violent far-right militia that resembles a gang. In every year since the Proud Boys’ founding in 2016, they have increased their activity. Their drastic increase in activity during 2020-2021 was accompanied by a large increase in violent activity. One of the most notorious was their large involvement in the January 6 insurrection. Their actions display their misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism. They openly deny these labels as they work to gain mainstream conservative appeal and legitimacy. Primary, secondary, and tertiary data on Proud Boy activities during both 2016-2019 and 2020-2021 was acquired and analyzed to determine how the unique socio-economic and political climate of 2020- 2021 influenced their growth. Furthermore, the information acquired and conclusions that were drawn were compared to the fall of Weimar Germany in the hopes that American liberal democracy will be able to avert a shift towards illiberalism and/or authoritarianism.

University of Texas, 2022. 93p.