Western States Center Statement on the Conviction of Four Members of Proud Boys Leadership for Their Role in the Insurrection

This morning, four out of five members of the Proud Boys, an anti-democracy organization with a long record of promoting bigotry and political violence, on trial for seditious conspiracy charges were convicted for their role in the implementation of the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.  

In response, Lindsay Schubiner, Director of Programs at Western States Center, a Portland-based civil rights group that monitors anti-democracy movements nationwide,  issued the following statement: 

“Today’s seditious conspiracy conviction is an important milestone on the journey to accountability for the perpetrators of the insurrection on January 6, 2021. It reinforces last year’s conviction of four members of the Oath Keepers on the same charges, showing that political violence and attacks on our democratic institutions will be taken seriously by our justice system and will not be tolerated by the American people.

“The Proud Boys have a long history of engaging in and promoting political violence, including in the Pacific Northwest where they have started to infiltrate county political parties. Their role in the insurrection was rightly recognized as so egregious that it amounted to seditious conspiracy, one of the most serious anti-democracy charges recognized by our legal system. 

“It’s also important to recognize that prosecution is only one part of the solution to managing the threat posed by anti-democracy movements. We need a whole-of-government approach to challenging white nationalism, and it is critical that we treat political violence as the existential threat that it is.”