Black Lives Matter and Proud Boys Join Together in Call for Unity in Utah

In a surprising turn of events, a Utah Black Lives Matter group held a joint presser with a local Proud Boys leaders. In the presser, the Black Lives Matter leader defended the Proud Boys.

It seems the two groups have been talking with each other and have found there is more that unites them than divides them.

“I will go out and say that the #ProudBoys as a whole, I will say this on behalf of the entire national organization, denounce white supremacy." – Thad, Chief of the Proud Boys Salt Lake Utah Chapter pic.twitter.com/WGlUEx3jeF

— 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐞 (@brian_schnee) October 1, 2020

From The Blaze:

The leader of a northern Utah Black Lives Matter chapter held a press conference with local Proud Boys leaders in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, defending the group which has been labeled by critics as white supremacists.

…

In video taken by KUTV-TV, Jacarri Kelley, the leader of Black Lives Matter, Northern Utah, told the press that she called the conference because she wanted to set the record straight after the Proud Boys were mentioned during the first presidential debate and accused of being “white supremacists.”

Kelley was flanked by Proud Boys local president Seth, and chief Thad, both of whom only provided their first names.

The BLM leader explained that she has been meeting with Seth and Thad for the past several weeks to learn more about their views, after she spoke with a few Proud Boys members during a protest who reassured her that they were just there “to make sure nothing goes down.”

“We sat down and had a conversation about each others’ myths that we heard about the Black Lives Matter movement and about the Proud Boys,” Kelley said about her first meeting with the leaders. “And we came to realize we had more in common than not. And in order to combat evil and racism and hatred in this country, we do need to be able to reach across the aisle and have these tough conversations.”

“They’re not white supremacists. These are proud American men,” Kelley said, before adding that both groups “have an issue with the media” because they feel their organizations are not fairly portrayed.

It is nice to see these two groups come together and talk, but I must admit I am skeptical. From what I’ve seen, it seems like both groups have their fair share of racists.

The Southern Poverty Law Center denounces the Proud Boys as racists, which, based on their anti-conservative bias, doesn’t mean much. This is the same organization that deems Focus on the Family a hate group.

The official website of the Proud Boys group denounces racism and homophobia.

The Proud Boys are a men’s organization founded in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes. McInnes has described the Proud Boys as a pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world; aka Western Chauvinists.

Proud Boys‘ values center on the following tenets:

Minimal Government
Maximum Freedom
Anti-Political Correctness
Anti-Drug War
Closed Borders
Anti-Racial Guilt
Anti-Racism
Pro-Free Speech (1st Amendment)
Pro-Gun Rights (2nd Amendment)
Glorifying the Entrepreneur
Venerating the Housewife
Reinstating a Spirit of Western Chauvinism

Though these are our central tenets, all that is required to become a Proud Boy is that a man declare he is “a Western chauvinist who refuses to apologize for creating the modern world.” We do not discriminate based upon race or sexual orientation/preference. We are not an “ism”, “ist”, or “phobic” that fits the Left’s narrative. We truly believe that the West Is The Best and welcome those who believe in the same tenets as us.

So basically they denounce racism but are admitted sexists. Okay.

The Proud Boys are filling a role according to people like Ann Coulter. They stand in opposition to the violence of Antifa where police have been told to stand down or are outnumbered.

Proud Boys have protected me all over the country. They should sue Biden (and Wallace) for defamation. https://t.co/3pPwTliT0d

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 30, 2020

What are YOUR thoughts on these two groups coming together?

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