Proud Boys did no one proud at Modesto City Council meeting
Let’s be clear about the people who showed up to cause trouble at Tuesday’s Modesto City Council meeting, and what they stand for.
Some wore Proud Boys insignia. Others wore the black polo shirts with yellow fringe signifying the Proud Boys.
The Proud Boys is a hate group.
One man was captured in at least two Modesto Bee photos flashing OK hand signs, a signal appropriated in recent years by extremist groups including white supremacists. This was no accident. It was a calculated, defiant sign of hate.
Some group members carried signs into the council chamber and held them up for all to see. Among the messages: “Support Joe.” “Justice for Joe.” “We love Joe.”
These signs referred not to the president of the United States, but to Joseph Lamantia, the former Modesto police officer who gunned down unarmed Trevor Seever at the Church of the Brethren in west Modesto on Dec. 29. Seever died, Lamantia — who had killed four people in 10 years — was fired and criminally charged, and a movement to reform Modesto police picked up steam.
The Modesto Police Department and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office both are holding Lamantia accountable, as expected and demanded by a society committed to the rule of law.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Proud Boys members denounced the reform movement, saying it’s backed by leftist extremists who think all cops are bad. Those statements are lies.
The city’s Forward Together initiative is in its infancy, but those helping to give it shape include members of the Modesto Police Department, the officer’s union, Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse and District Attorney Birgit Fladager. They are not leftist, antifa extremists.
Listen to this recent statement from Interim Police Chief Brandon Gillespie when The Modesto Bee Editorial Board asked about reform: “The minute you’re satisfied with the status quo is the minute you fall behind.” Does this sound like someone opposed to positive change?
Or like someone who wants or needs support from an often violent hate group?
“If the community wants civilian review (of police), I’m not opposed or afraid,” Gillespie continued. “We are not an occupying force. We are part of the community.”
Gillespie has the right idea. The Proud Boys do not.
Several of those criminally charged with storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are Proud Boys, which the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a hate group. Some puffed out their chests when former president Donald Trump, in the first presidential debate last year, told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” rather than call out white supremacists or militia groups.
Citing their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Canadian government in February designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity.
Hate groups don’t represent Modesto
The Proud Boys are associated with racism, misogyny, intolerance and violence.
They have a right to speak their small minds during public comment portions of government meetings. They can carry signs supporting alleged criminals, and to flash hateful hand signs. No one will stop them from twisting the truth and misrepresenting facts.
But they do not represent Modesto, they do not speak for our people, and virtually nothing they say or do will make a difference.
The charges against Lamantia will not be dropped just because a few misinformed loud mouths demand it.
Broad-based community efforts to improve Modesto police will not suddenly grind to a halt just because a couple dozen Proud Boys say they should.
Forward Together will move forward with the help and support of good people who want the best for our city and who are, in the chief’s words, not satisfied with the status quo.
This story was originally published June 23, 2021 at 12:00 PM.