Canada classifies right-wing Proud Boys as terrorist group

Hossam al-Haddad

Authorities in Canada on Wednesday, February 3, designated the far-right Proud Boys movement as a terrorist group.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the decision was influenced by the movement’s “pivotal role” in the riots that took place on January 6 at Congressional headquarters in Washington, DC.

The classification allows for the freezing of the group’s assets, and its members can be charged with terrorist crimes if they engage in acts of violence.

The group is made up of men only, is anti-immigrant, and has a history of violent political confrontations.

The Proud Boys promote ideas embraced by former US President Donald Trump, who mentioned the group’s name during the first US presidential debate in October 2020.

In response to a question about the issue of white supremacy and the activity of armed groups, Trump said, “Proud Boys, back off and prepare,” which the group’s online members viewed as a call to action. After that, Trump distanced himself from the group.

Canada’s designation of the Proud Boys as a terrorist group comes one week after the US Department of Homeland Security warned of a “growing threat” of domestic terrorism by violent extremists unhappy with the outcome of the presidential election.

In Canada, Blair spoke of the “growing threat of ideological violent extremism.” The Canadian branches of the Proud Boys were seen as reflecting divergent and disorganized ideas.

Despite strict travel restrictions between the United States and Canada, at least two Canadians took part in the storming of the Capitol building last month, according to media reports. Photos and videos of the riots that took place on January 6 show at least one Canadian flag carried by a person among the intruders.

Canada is the first country to designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist group. Two American neo-Nazi groups, Atomwaffen Division and The Base, as well as several groups affiliated with ISIS and al-Qaeda, have also been classified as terrorist entities.

The Canadian government indicated that its security services closely monitor the organization and collect evidence to support the blacklisting of the organization.

On January 26, the Canadian parliament unanimously approved a proposal calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ban the Proud Boys organization in Canada as a terrorist entity.

The proposal urges the Trudeau government to use all available means to counter the spread of extremist groups, starting with the immediate classification of the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity.

Joseph Biggs arrested

On January 21, NBC reported the arrest of Joseph Biggs, the organizer of the Proud Boys group, on charges of being involved in the storming of the Capitol building in Washington on January 6.

The network indicated that Biggs was identified through multiple videos and photos that documented the charges against him, according to a criminal complaint signed by the FBI, which is following the case.

It added that the charges indicated that Biggs was one of the first to enter the Capitol building, through a door opened by a small group that entered by breaking a window with a police shield.

The network indicated that Biggs admitted in the investigations that he had entered the Capitol building.

On January 28, Reuters revealed that Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio had a past as an informant for federal and local law enforcement authorities and had repeatedly worked in secret with investigators after his arrest in 2012.

At the hearing in Miami, the FBI said Tarrio’s work helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases related to drugs, gambling and human trafficking.

The former federal prosecutor in the Tarrio case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, also asserted that he “collaborated with local and federal law enforcement authorities to assist in the prosecution of those who run other separate criminal enterprises.”

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Tarrio denied working in secret or cooperating in cases against others, and when asked about the court minutes that confirm this information, he said, “I have no knowledge of this information and I do not remember it.”

Two of the most prominent members of the Proud Boys, Nicholas Ochs and Nicholas DeCarlo, are facing new charges of conspiracy related to the riots at the US Congress, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday.

On February 4, the Justice Department unveiled the new charges of conspiracy in a federal grand jury indictment against Ochs and DeCarlo.

According to the indictment, the two conspired to prevent Congress from ratifying President Joe Biden’s election victory on January 6, 2021.

Prosecutors said they planned and raised money for that purpose and then came to Washington and stormed the Congress building as part of the violent mobilization, according to a copy of the indictment obtained by CNN.

Earlier Wednesday, Canada announced that the Proud Boys would be classified as a terrorist entity, along with 12 other groups.

It will be considered a “violent extremist group with ideological motives,” along with three other groups. It is noteworthy that there is no US law to designate an entirely local group as a terrorist organization.