Proud Boys March Again In Rockville Centre; Condemned By Democrats

Originally published in Patch

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — The Proud Boys made a return to Rockville Centre on Saturday and their second appearance since October was condemned on social media.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, who has an office in Rockville Centre, posted a video clip of the "neo-facist group" and said: "This can't be the new normal and this isn't who we are."

Photos posted online show the group with American flags and Proud Boys flags. Some flags were spotted sticking out of trucks as well. Most marchers, as is in past, kept their faces covered.

State Sen. Anna Kaplan, D-North Hills, called the march an effort to "intimidate our community and spread their vile, hateful agenda."

Nassau County Legislator Siela Bynoe wrote in a statement on Sunday: "The residents of Rockville Centre were once again subjected to the noxious presence of the so-called Proud Boys and their white nationalist, neofascist rhetoric," Bynoe, D-Westbury, said. "Now more than ever, it is crucial for people of good conscience to stand together to reject their racist, misogynistic, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ bigotry and send a clear message that hate has no place in Rockville Centre, Nassau County or anywhere else in our nation."

Patch tried to reach Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray for a comment.

The Proud Boys have been deemed an extremist group by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. They were formed in 2016 and gained extensive notoriety after President Donald Trump lost his re-election bid, as well as after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.