In the two years after the insurrection of January 6, 2021, it seemed that the Proud Boys — the far-right militia that had been the vanguard for storming the Capitol — were just getting stronger. While they had failed to help Donald Trump steal the 2020 election, the group gained prominence and seemed to be growing in size. As Kathryn Joyce reported for Salon, the Proud Boys refocused on harassing LGBTQ people at public events, glomming onto the Moms for Liberty-led assault on school boards, and presenting themselves as shock troops for Christian nationalism. By putting themselves at the center of the culture war, the group was able to keep getting attention and, seemingly, new members.
In 2023, however, the Proud Boys appeared to be "circling the drain," reports Tess Owen of Vice, who has covered the Proud Boys for years. While warning that the group is still a violent threat, especially to LGBTQ people, there is little doubt that they've seen a dramatic decline in activity. There were "just 36 uniformed appearances by one or more Proud Boys across 17 states last year, compared to the 63 appearances across 21 states that we logged in 2022," Owens writes. The events they did have had relatively low turnout, as well.
