"The groups recognize that their viewpoint isn’t popular, so they’re constantly trying to recruit people — even somebody who might not be entirely ideologically on board or racially pure. If that person comes out to a rally or participates in an act of violence, they’re going to be welcomed. The attitude is, if we ever get to the race war, we’ll be more discerning about who we let in, but casting a wider net can be helpful now.
Also, having a nonwhite person as somebody they can put out front aids in softening their public image. The Proud Boys are masters at this. They openly embrace white supremacy in some of their chapters, but as an organization they include people who appear nonwhite and who have a Spanish surname, or even Jewish people, as examples they can point to so they say, 'We might have engaged in violence side by side with a group of white supremacists, but we are not white supremacists.' It helps them gain public support and assists in recruiting."
~ Mireya Navarro and Michael German
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