When the clown show showed up in a DC court a couple of weeks ago, we most certainly should have expected a circus. The strategy for the defense of the Proud Boys has so far been to try and have any evidence proving their clients’ guilt tossed out while relentlessly calling for a mistrial. Now, it appears they’re calling for former president Donald Trump to testify.
I know, it’s a bold strategy (not really). But if I were a defendant, I’d be pissed. We all know the ringmaster of their chaotic ride won’t show. While reports suggest Trump’s legal team decided to accept the subpoena from one of the extremists, Joe Biggs, forcing Trump to testify is a decision only Judge Timothy Kelly can make. Judge Kelly is a Trump appointee and is presiding over the case in DC’s federal district court.
“Donald Trump called on patriots to stop the steal. We’re calling on Donald Trump to take the stand,” Norm Pattis, attorney for Proud Boy Joe Biggs, said last week according to Politico and CBS affiliate WUSA9. It’s unclear if lawyers for the group are still asking the federal government for help in serving the subpoena or if their assistance is needed. But serving a former president with a subpoena to testify carries little weight – as we’ve seen many times in recent history.
Still, Trump feels he’s too big for the jesters ruining their lives for him. He’s always been about himself, first and foremost. His accepting being served a subpoena benefits him in myriad ways. It makes him look good in the eyes of his jailed loyalists and he can easily later blame the judge, the process, or some other random idea for never coming through. But he can say he tried.
And he will. Trust him on that.
Trump never cared about his little army of foot soldiers destroying family connections, careers, and entire friend circles due to their blind support of his racist and bigoted policies. His isolationist ideas are precisely how his followers remain sequestered from civil society. Looking at recent actions by the Proud Boys attacking drag shows, for example, shows exactly why they are considered a hate group. The damage they are doing to their own image can only hurt their leaders’ cases in federal court as they face an extensive stay in federal prison.
Various counter-movements fell in line with them as well. With members of those groups facing similar circumstances. Blue Lives Matter/Thin Blue Line groups, All Lives Matter, Anti-Vaxxers, and faux Christians bought into the white nationalist angle the former president brought into the mainstream. Even the “alt-right,” which technically still exists as an ideology, saw its most prominent leaders fail and succumb to mountains of debt. Again, Trump cared no more for them than he does for the Proud Boys on trial or anyone else. He cares for no one but himself.
Shocking, Not Shocking
By now, I’m sure the entire country has seen police high-fiving members of the Proud Boys at various violent protests. So it should come as no surprise that fewer than 3 weeks before the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, an intelligence officer for the DC Police communicated information about police operations to the so-called leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio.
During the last several years, the violence that was instigated mainly by the hate group went unpunished due in large part to support from police officers. This “kid gloves” approach to hate groups stems from members of law enforcement offering them protection in various ways. From influencing their colleagues to look the other way when actions are imminent – such as the non-existent police response to the Jan. 6 attack – to becoming members of said groups, the policing apparatus in this country is largely to blame for extremists acting out as they please.
During the civil rights protests in the summer of 2020 in response to yet another brutal murder by police, the cops in nearly every city allowed armed far-right actors to move freely among peaceful protesters. Many of them attacked businesses, killed people, and even burned down a police station in an attempt to blame Black Lives Matter. Evidence of racist, extremist cronies causing most of the damage during the protests is mountainous.
They did all of this in an effort to sow chaos to start an ethnic/race war. Attacking our power grid is a part of this strategy. They saw the 2020 protests as an opportunity to accelerate their plans. Several were arrested prior to entering large crowds and opening fire, others were stopped on the ground by peaceful protesters. Despite these plans being shared widely online and citizens warning law enforcement hundreds if not thousands of times, the pleas were ignored.
It all culminated in the Jan 6 attack as the world watched in comedic horror. It was comedic in that they intended to occupy several buildings, including the Capitol, until the election of Joe Biden was thrown out and King Clown was installed as president. The horror for many was watching what they did to the same cops that regularly protected and took sides with them.
And yet, police still protect them as they violently attack marginalized communities.
