A report has been compiled by the office of the Clark County sheriff in Vancouver, Washington, detailing the events surrounding the firing of Clark County Deputy Erin Willey after a photograph of her wearing a Proud Boys sweatshirt featuring the logo of the hate group the Proud Boys was sent to the sheriff’s office, most likely by an ex-boyfriend in retaliation for her dumping him. The photo, the Proud Boys’ involvement in white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and another image of her selling Proud Boys merchandise, led to her firing, as reported by Vancouver’s Columbian this summer. The non-profit government transparency organization Property of the People has posted the report, written by headquarters Commander Michael McCabe, who is the head of internal affairs investigations. In the document, McCabe writes about Willey’s guilt and also mentions the Proud Boys in a most interesting way.
The FBI categorizes the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.
And also this.
The FBI has warned local law enforcement agencies that the Proud Boys are actively recruiting in the Pacific Northwest and that some Proud Boys members have contributed to the recent escalation of violence at political rallies held on college campuses, and in cities like Charlottesville, Virginia, Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.
McCabe summarizes the entire set of events between Erin Willey and her Proud Boy boyfriend. He also charts the investigation into what is known about the very young organization of Proud Boys. While he says that the FBI classified them as an extremist group in 2018, they have always been “transparent about what they believed in and what they promoted. Much of their public rhetoric would be viewed as discriminatory and offensive, as is defined by the Sheriff’s Office within.” The point being that Ms. Willey’s affiliation with the group meant she stank.
The Guardian verified that McCabe is indeed the investigating commander and the author of the report; he spoke on the record with them about his knowledge of the FBI classification.
After confirming the authenticity of the document, he told the Guardian in a telephone interview that the FBI’s classification of the Proud Boys as an extremist group was revealed to him in “a briefing we were given by the FBI” on 2 August, at Clark county’s west precinct.
The briefing included agency heads from local law enforcement, and in it the FBI said that they “have been warning [local law enforcement] for a while” about the Proud Boys, “not just in Washington but around the nation”.
According to the Guardian, McCabe provided more information about the FBI briefing to law enforcement, including the office’s concerns about potential law enforcement affiliations with such white supremacist groups. Those concerns can only be more concerning, considering the light-touch treatment that Proud Boys have received after recent assaults at Proud Boy events. The fact that the FBI has correctly classified the Proud Boys is heartening. Of course, even the right-wing Facebook has had to make a show of banning them.
There is a clear schism inside of our country’s top law enforcement department. On one side are dedicated law enforcement people, working diligently to keep our country safe by holding everyone, from the least powerful to the most powerful, accountable under the law. On the other side are ideologues and white supremacists that want the law to enforce a racist caste system that protects the country’s “elite” from the rabble down below.