Yesterday in the IE (inland empire, southern california, United States, for those unfamiliar) proud boys escalated their tactics significantly. The last several months they have been doing banner drops about once a month and have been thwarted by a rapid response network of local anti fascists who respond to remove the banners.
Yesterday they laid a trap. They put a banner up on a billboard slightly off the beaten path near an abandoned house. They have done this before, but this time they had lookouts and several members masked up and hiding near the banner waiting for anti fascists to come and remove it.
Anti fascists ran up and removed the banner once the lookout, IDed as local proud boy Louie Flores, left in his car to do a lap. Shortly after the anti fascists drove off with the banner, multiple black clad presumably proud boys emerged from hiding behind the billboard, possibly in the abandoned house or surrounding brush. They were seen getting into Louie's car when he returned and driving off.
If is unclear what they planned to do, or why they did not take action. It is possible that their lookout abandoning his post briefly once he'd been spotted meant they were not alerted about people approaching to remove the banner. It is possible that they were expecting a local anti fascist mom who bullies them on tiktok to be the person who removed the banner, and when different people arrived they abandoned their plan.
What is certain is that this is an escalation from their usual patterns, and someone could have been surrounded and seriously hurt had the situation happened differently. Luckily in addition to the brave folks who ran up the hill to grab the banner, several other anti fascists were also present nearby watching and filming. The decision to wait for backup before moving on the banner was a smart one, and no one from the anti fascist crew was confronted or attacked.
This is a reminder to use the buddy system, carry deterrents like pepper spray, and work together when taking risky actions.
Solidarity forever 🖤❤️🏴