The Proud Boys are a neo-fascist group with chapters all over the U.S, Canada, the UK and Australia. The group was started by Gavin McInnes in 2016 in the lead-up to the presidential election, but gained a lot more attention by spring of 2017 when they were becoming more active. That same spring Kyle Chapman ( aka based stickman ), a far-right Trump supporter from the bay area, started a group called Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights (FOAK) and after an endorsement by McInnes it became known as the “tactical defense arm” of the Proud Boys. Later that year at the deadly white nationalist march in Charlottesvile, VA, FOAK marched among all the neo-nazi and white nationalist groups present that day in the face of hundreds of brave anti-racists. The march on Charlottesville itself was organized by Jason Kessler, a Proud Boy and a white nationalist. The rest of 2017 and into 2018 the Proud Boys continued their anti-Muslim, misogynistic rhetoric while joining far right demonstrations around the country.
In November 2018 the FBI announced that the Proud Boys are now a designated domestic terrorist group, but they later retracted that statement. However, that was too much for McInnes and at that point he attempted to cut ties with the group after everything running through him since its inception two years prior. Today the leader of the Proud Boys is Enrique Tarrio, from Florida who is one of the Proud Boys that marched in Charlottesville on August 12th, 2017.
Brandon Witte, who has been a member of the Proud Boys for at least two years, first came to our attention when we heard that he was arrested in September of 2017 at the end of ” free speech week “ in Berkeley. At the end of that week he joined a far-right rally on the UC Berkeley campus that was organized by Patriot Prayer, a neo-fascist group from the pacific northwest. It was reported that day that Witte was arrested for “illegal possession of body armor” and was also charged with a probation violation. It was then that it became clear that he was one of the Sacramento area Proud Boys to pay closer attention to, considering what he was probably capable of. Granted all Proud Boys are concerning because of who they are and what they represent when they wear the black and gold polo shirt with the Proud Boys pin, but by then he was definitely of the core group we had decided to keep an eye on. Earlier that same month, Brandon Witte went out to Berkeley along with other Proud Boys to attend a talk by far-right Islamophobe,and transphobe Ben Shapiro, that was being held at UC Berkeley just prior to the beginning of ” free speech week “ , a week of events organized by different members of the far-right.
The following spring on March 7th 2018 hundreds of anti-racist protesters were out in front of the Kimpton Sawyer hotel in downtown Sacramento where the then U.S attorney general was giving a speech in front of the California Peace Officers Association, justifying the administrations anti-immigration policies. A small group of far-right people went downtown to try and harass the large group protesting the racist Jeff Sessions’ appearance in Sacramento. Among the small group of far-right people present that day was local neo-Nazi, Chris Locke, who was doing the Nazi salute and hurling racial slurs at some of the protesters, as well as white nationalist street harasser, Jeffrey Perrine. Brandon Witte was also there wearing a ” blue lives matter ” flag as a cape the entire time which of course is an anti-black racist symbol in and of itself.
Only a couple months later on May 9th Witte decided to join a demonstration at his local elementary school in Rocklin that was organized by the Westboro Baptist Church(WBC). The Westboro Baptist Church is not simply a church but a vicious anti-LGBTQ group from Kansas that travels around the country taking their incredibly dangerous message wherever they go. They came to Rocklin, California that day to protest a Teacher of the Year award being given to the kindergarten teacher who helped educate her class about a transgender student and how to support her. There was three members of the Westboro Baptist Church there that day along with a few supporters that included Brandon Witte. Then there was nearly 100 individuals there in support of the kindergarten teacher and against the awful anti-LGBTQ message Witte and the Westboro Baptist Church were bringing there.
It’s interesting that Witte chose to support the Westboro Baptist Church that day because in a snapchat conversation back in December of 2015 he was showing his appreciation for the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) kicking the Westboro Baptist Church out when they would protest a military funeral. Of course it’s also possible that even three years later in May of 2018 he could be choosing when he’d support the WBC and when he won’t, but clearly he’s also ready to support the KKK as well.
In these last two years the Sacramento area Proud Boys once lead by Gabriel Morris Silva of Glencoe have become more disjointed then they once were, but even among the splits and fractures they are all still concerning in their own right. They just aren’t as organized as they once were, but they still have their numbers and among those where there isn’t much friction they will coalesce at times.
Well, back on April 17th of this year, Witte went out to Berkeley yet again with a group of Proud Boys to attend a speech given by the former White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. Afterwards he and other far-right people were seen at Eureka, a restaurant in Berkeley. At that point a call-in campaign was issued by Berkeley Antifa demanding to know why Eureka would serve Proud Boys, fascists, and other far-right people. A great tactic to use when dangers to our community like Brandon Witte are seen heading into a bar, restaurant, or any public establishment.
Most recently on August 22nd of this year when Bernie Sanders was giving a speech at Cesar Chavez park, Witte was again spotted among at least 7 Proud Boys in a group of at least 15 far-right people there to harass the attendees at the Bernie Sanders rally.
Brandon A. Witte was born in 1996, lives with his family in Rocklin, CA, and his current residence is: 3610 Farron st., Rocklin , CA 95677
Brandon has two Facebook personalities, and one is ” Joey Tribiani ” which can be found here: facebook.com/joey.tribiani.583 , and the other is ” Brad White” which can be found here: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004627984761
If you have any information about Brandon Witte or any other Proud Boys in the area, please contact us at: antifasac ( at )riseup.net