BELLE PLAINE, Ch. (AP) – An Arizona woman charged in connection with the January 6 attack on the Capitol bragged in a Snapchat video that she was recently recruited by a Kansas City branch of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist organization that describes themselves as “western chauvinists” and has long banned female members.
Felicia Konold’s claim that the department recruited her and that she was “ with them now, ” even though she’s not from Kansas City, has intrigued experts studying extremist right-wing movements.
“It is ironic that such a deeply misogynistic organization has attracted someone who is a woman to join their organization,” said Eric Ward, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “It tells us there is disagreement in the ranks of Proud Boys right now.”
Details of the video that surfaced last week in an affidavit about likely cause against Tucson’s Konold, 26, charged with conspiracy, civil disorder and other federal charges as a result of the melee.
Konold sounded almost euphoric in the Snapchat video she posted after the Capitol attack, saying she never imagined she would have such an impact on the events that took place that day. Smiling, she refers to ‘all my boys, behind me, who held me in the air, pushing back. We (expletives) did it! ”
To seemingly prove her point of view that she had just been “ recruited into a Kansas City (expletive) chapter, ” she showed on the video a two-sided “ challenge coin ” that appears to have markings indicating that she is one of the Kansas City Proud Boys .
The challenge coin represents membership, something that seems to run counter to the rhetoric about women of the organization’s national leadership, Ward said.
“The fact that she has that coin, the challenge coin, tells me there’s something going on around gender in the Proud Boys – and it’s something worth looking out for,” said Ward, who is also the executive director. belongs to the Western States Center, a civil rights advocacy group dedicated to gender equality.
Experts following right-wing extremist groups point to the controversy that erupted when former mixed martial arts fighter Tara LaRosa tried to found a Proud Girls offshoot on the social media app Telegram in December.
The Proud Boys ‘social media outlets were quick to respond, calling support groups like Proud Boy’s Girls or Proud Girls’ ridiculous ideas. “Don’t ride our coat,” read a message. “Do you want to support us? Getting married, having babies and taking care of your family. “
Alex DiBranco, executive director of the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism, said there are differences between Proud Boys’ chapters on whether or not to embrace women as Proud Girls, even though the group as a whole has become more hostile towards female relief organizations. Proud Boys mothers posted about Proud Boys get-togethers they organized for their sons.
But DiBranco said the people in her group who have worked on this topic are still unaware of a situation where a woman was actually recruited to be a member of a Proud Boys chapter herself, which is strictly contrary to the Proud Boys rules.
Cassie Miller, a senior research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that for a time there were Proud Boys’ Girls’ support groups made up of the members’ wives and girlfriends, but they should not have full membership in the group. . She said that as far as she knows, none of those support groups are currently active.
“The group was very clear from the start that it is a male-only organization and they have a misogynistic belief and believe that women are best suited for housework and should act as mothers and housewives,” Miller said.
Prosecutors allege in a lawsuit that William Chrestman, whom they described as the leader of the Kansas City Proud Boys cell, “ recruited ” Felicia Konold and her Arizona brother, Cory Konold, to join the Kansas City Proud Boys group. Close.
Neither her lawyer nor her father immediately responded to messages asking for comment on Tuesday.
It is known that the Proud Boys incite street violence with counter-protesters. The group received a lot of attention during a presidential debate in September, when then-President Donald Trump famously told them to “step back and allow”.
Prosecutors allege that from December onwards, the Proud Boys encouraged its members to attend the January 6 demonstration in Washington, DC. A large group of them, including Felicia Konold and other members of the Kansas City cell, were captured on video marching together and later into the Capitol.
While there were many white women at the January 6 protests, white supremacist groups are generally dominated by white men, DiBranco said. Groups like QAnon are generally popular with women, but supporters of Proud Boys and QAnon congregate in protests like this. The anti-vaxxer movement against vaccinations is dominated by women.
“Those lockdown protests exposed their members to these elements of a far-right coalition that these women may not otherwise be a part of,” DiBranco said. “Women may have switched from anti-vaxxer to QAnon and other types of conspiracy.”