Daniel Berry, a former member of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys, says he stays up each night to keep an eye on his home after receiving death threats for his plans to speak to USA TODAY.
Daniel Berry said he was looking for camaraderie.
The 40-year-old Army veteran wanted to forge the kind of bonds he had in the military, a group of like-minded men who were united in a common goal.
Berry remembered a man at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall asking if he had heard of the Proud Boys. Berry had voted for Donald Trump. They said they welcomed true men and called themselves "Western chauvinists". That sounded right for Berry, who considers himself a dyed-in-the-wool patriot.
He sent off an email after doing some internet searches. He received a link to a chat room.
Berry began his journey into the dark world of the Proud Boys.
The Wisconsin Proud Boys are a den of racism and antisemitism according to Berry and a member of the group. They said that moving up within the group is dependent on promoting white supremacist talking points.
The Proud Boys have become a magnet for racists and violent extremists because of the unique view they have of the organization provided by Berry and two other men. They spoke with USA TODAY and gave them evidence that supported their claims.
Their accounts show that the group is a multiracial drinking club that preaches patriotism and free speech to new members. The men said that the Proud Boys stand for more than just being a group of people who like each other, they stand for racial hatred.
Berry said that initially it was truly a family. What I experienced was more like a cult.
Men join the Proud Boys.
The Proud Boys have been a hard group to pin down. Experts agree that it's an extremists group.
The Proud Boys have a vague political ideology of unfettered free speech and nationalism. The group's public messaging is rife with inside jokes that are designed to hide the group's true intentions and draw in recruits.
A Proud Boys rally in Portland, Ore., in September of 2020 will show support for President Donald Trump and condemn violence during Black Lives Matter and antiFA protests.
The Proud Boys were categorized by the FBI as an Extremist group. The group has 43 chapters in 29 states according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Henry Tarrio, the national chairman of the Proud Boys, insists that it's not a white supremacist group. Nonwhite members are shown as evidence.
Tarrio told Business Insider last year that they are not what they are made out to be.
A USA TODAY analysis shows that at least 25 people associated with the Proud Boys are among the more than 400 arrested in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The Proud Boys have been charged with felonies for their street fights with protesters.
I wouldn't call them terrorists. "They're street fighters," said a security consultant and former senior analyst for domestic terrorism at the Department of Homeland Security.
He and other experts said that the public should be wary of the Proud Boys, who saw a huge influx of members in 2019. The group is likely to be an incubator for extremists who could graduate from street brawls to more serious violence.
He said that they are one of these environments where people get immersed. They could serve as a radicalization facilitator because they are not one of the groups that are going to stand back and hold signs.
Being a Proud Boy.
Berry and the two other men had the same first contact with the Wisconsin Proud Boys. Each said he received a link to join a private group.
Berry and the other recruit hoped the chatroom would be a place to discuss issues such as border security and gun rights.
Berry said he was looking for a safe place to discuss libertarian and conservative politics outside of his home, where his views often clashed with those of his wife.
Daniel Berry, a former member of the Proud Boys, was looking for a place to discuss conservative and libertarian politics.
Prospective members said the news media painted the Proud Boys as extremists and white supremacists.
Berry said that the media portrayals of the group reminded him of his college days, when he was ridiculed for being in the military. He said that Berry's time in the Army didn't match their stereotypes and that he didn't think they'd ring true for the Proud Boys.
After joining the chatroom, applicants were required to send a copy of their state-issued ID cards to Proud Boys leaders. The men who spoke with USA TODAY said it gave the group power over them.
Three men said that the chatroom is mild. Senior members dropped in to encourage recruits to attend a meet at a bar.
Berry and the other men said that Proud Boys and pledges showed up at those events, but they were told not to wear their black and gold colors. The applicants were grilled by leaders and senior members of the Proud Boys on why they wanted to join.
The men who spoke with USA TODAY made it past this stage. They were given a link to a second Telegram chatroom.
They said that things got nasty there.
The recruits are being tested.
The men said that the second chatroom was overrun with shocking content, including photos and videos of people getting killed and seriously injured. Users swapped the most explicit pornography they could find. The images flowed with racist, antisemitic and homophobic banter.
The Proud Boys march near the White House.
One of the men who spoke with USA TODAY described the content, saying "Videos of Muslims being set on fire or blown up?" Check. There are meme that are intended to laugh at Holocaust-era Jews. Check. There are pictures of women being raped. Check. Is there a meme poking fun at raped women? Check. You get the point, I could go on.
The images and meme examples shared with USA TODAY didn't make Berry or the other two men leave. They said they've heard a lot of racist and homophobic comments in their white communities.
The chapter president told Berry that the chatroom would be rough. He said that only those with the toughest skin would survive.
Berry believed that it all played into the ethos of the Proud Boys, a group of tough guys fighting for free speech and independence.
Protesters and counterprotesters gather in front of the White House on July 4, 2019, before President Donald Trump's speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
He said that Proud Boys recruits in Wisconsin had to run the gantlet of the chatroom if they wanted to advance. The person who expressed discomfort with the conversation was ridiculed.
Berry said that the motto of the Proud Boys was "fit in or f--- off". If you want to stay with the group, you have to get on board with what they are saying.
He and other Proud Boys recruits found that many of the men embraced the racism and antisemitism behind the code words and inside jokes.
The accused killer was Serenading.
Kyle Rittenhouse went to a bar with his mom after pleading not guilty to felony charges.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, Rittenhouse met with the Wisconsin Proud Boys, who are accused of being involved in the Black Lives Matter protests.
Kyle Rittenhouse and other armed men claimed to be protecting property owners from theft during a protest in August of 2020.
The song "Proud of Your Boy" was written for the Disney movie "Aladdin" and is the origin of the Proud Boys' name.
Berry and the others said that the Proud Boys embraced Rittenhouse.
The Proud Boys claim to be open to all ethnicities, but the chapter in Wisconsin is mostly white, according to the men. Berry remembered a man who wasn't white at Proud Boys gatherings. He said the group's ethos was to get on board with racism or leave.
It was clear to Berry and the two others that the only way to become an official Proud Boy was to support white supremacy.
Berry said that the ones that were definitely racist were the ones that moved up.
The bar where Kyle Rittenhouse was seen taking pictures with Proud Boys and flashing the "OK" symbol that has been used as a symbol of white supremacy had just a few regulars.
The recruiting process the men described is similar to one used by white supremacist organizations for the past couple of decades, according to an assistant professor in the School of Religion at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada.
The Proud Boys attract young white men because they believe they are joining a political force that will fix the world's problems.
The Proud Boys are like other racist groups in that they cloak their ideology to draw in recruits, then reveal their racist side once they are caught.
They've been confusing researchers for a long time. I wouldn't fault a random person who thought they were not white supremacists because of their public rhetoric.
Attorney General Garland is focused on domestic terrorism.
Last week, Attorney General Garland announced a national strategy to fight domestic terrorism.
The strategy doesn't mention the Proud Boys, but it says the internet is a major and growing threat to the public.
The Proud Boys have rituals.
The expectation to engage in racist banter served as a purpose within the Proud Boys Telegram chatroom.
The recruits were told that they would be kicked out if they took pictures of the chatrooms. Berry and the others said they learned that the group's leaders had videos and pictures that they could use against the men.
Berry said he was in the chatroom for weeks. He acknowledged that he had been searching for a brother and that he had engaged in racist and homophobic conversations.
It did not.
Berry was required to record a video about his views on the modern world, which he said was a proud Western chauvinist who refused to apologize for creating the modern world.
The chairman of the Proud Boys wears a shirt expressing support for the police officer who killed George Floyd in a counter protest against a remembrance of Floyd in Miami on May 25.
Berry said that the video was the last step in becoming a "First Degree" Proud Boy. He waited for an invitation to be beaten into the group so he could recite the names of five breakfast cereals.
Anyone who makes it through is a second degree person. The fourth degree is reserved for members who get into a fight with a member of antifa.
Berry said that the last couple were more abusive than the one he attended. It's not been, 'Hey, let's punch this guy because he's a brother.' It's been, "Hey, let's beat the shit out of this guy."
Berry never made it that far.
Berry said that the vetting chatroom atmosphere grew more alarming, including the case of a prospective Proud Boy who ended up in a hospital.
Where is your humanity?
Three men were interviewed for a story and all of them were disgusted by the treatment of one recruit.
Berry and the other men said that the man known as TonyGavin became a whipping boy for the Wisconsin Proud Boys. They said that senior members ridiculed the man's sexuality and his wife's disability for weeks. The abuse was delivered via text, meme and videos.
Daniel Berry, a former member of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys, has a tattoo on his leg that commemorates his fallen military brothers.
Berry said that Tony was admitted to a hospital with a heart problem because of the bully.
Berry said that they let him into the chat to make sure that everyone would gang up on him and see if the group coalesced around being a bully to this guy. They kicked him out of the group and kept scaring him until he went to the hospital.
A Proud Boy posted a meme to the chatroom mocking rape victims. It was extreme, but not the first. Berry decided he had had enough.
Berry said that he had found racism, sadism and bully when he came for the camaraderie.
Where is your humanity? He asked where your soul was. This is a fake group.
What do the Proud Boys represent?
Tarrio and others said that the Proud Boys has always been open to people of all faiths and that gay men are welcome.
Tarrio claimed that the men interviewed by USA TODAY are not really Proud Boys and do not represent his group.
He didn't want to be interviewed for this story. The president of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys went by the name D-Bow the Viking. None of the men know his real name.
A man is held back by a group of people while the leader of the Proud Boys uses a megaphone during a counter protest in Miami at the commemoration of the killing of George Floyd. Tarrio led a group of people. Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer.
The founder of the Proud Boys claimed that anyone who supports racism or homophobia isn't a true Proud Boy.
McInnes did not answer questions in the phone call. He claimed in an email that the accusations of the men who spoke with USA TODAY were false and that reporting them would make the group more likely to be a haven for racists.
A much more sinister option arrives when you spotlight a dumb rumor about the club going full white nationalist. He wrote that blacks and gays should leave the club. White nationalists became attracted to it. In other words, you are making hate where it wasn't previously.
The men who spoke with USA TODAY don't know if what they observed in the Wisconsin chapter is indicative of the movement as a whole, but they warned that what happened could be a sign of widespread problems.
A Proud Boy wrote in an email that they were letting in too many men who embody the worst of this country. The likelihood of promoting those who agree with disgusting behavior increases as the ranks of the racist members increase.
The Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys doesn't appear to be an outlier according to a researcher who has studied the group for years.
Kutner has interviewed more than 20 current and former Proud Boys and he said the organization left behind any notions of diversity or equality.
Kutner said that some Proud Boys might just be meeting up once a month with the boys and drinking and complaining about the wife and then going home. The group as a whole is a violent, fascist organization.
She said that the group's recruitment process pushes members further into the world of extremism.
"As a function of the degree system, you can become more radicalized by exposure to anti-trans, misogynistic, homophobic and antisemitic content," Kutner said.
She said that the joke was "blurring the line between satire, humor, edge and reality." A lot of them don't know where the line is, but they get pulled closer to it as a function of being in the group.
The FBI says Dominic Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys, used a riot shield to break a window at the Capitol.
There have been signs that the Proud Boys are fragmenting. The "Proud Goys" are an explicitly white supremacist group that was created after a leadership battle.
Current and former members don't speak to the media, making it hard to understand where the group is headed. There may be a good reason for that.
Speaking out about the situation.
Berry was invited to become a brother by some people, but since contacting USA TODAY, they have publicly disowned him.
A blurred copy of his driver's license was posted on the Wisconsin Proud Boys public Telegram channel. It was accompanied by a message posted by "D-Bow" who was threatening to share Berry's videos.
Someone inside the Wisconsin Proud Boys threatened Berry's life. When his wife is home, he stopped leaving the house. He sleeps during the day and stays alert at night by walking the perimeter of his property and relying on his guard dog.
Berry said he has no one to blame but himself. He said he listened to conservative pundits who praised the Proud Boys, despite his better judgement.
Berry said he quit after more than five months. He was appalled that he got involved with the Proud Boys.
He said that he was in the wrong for things he did. I am not the good guy here, because I did this to myself.
Another drinking club that became violent.
The Proud Boys are just the latest in a long line of groups that claim to be one thing, when behind the curtain they are really another.
The origin story of the Proud Boys is familiar to Daryle, who has tracked extremists since the 1980s.
The Ku Klux Klan was formed by old Confederate soldiers who wanted to blow off steam, and have some sort of organization that they could belong to so that they could maintain their camaraderie during the Civil War.
The Klan became a terror group that killed Black people and became more political. It is the same origin story.
Bruce Vielmetti is a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Proud Boys recruitment targets men looking for a community.
