Five members of the Proud Boys are on trial for seditious conspiracy over their alleged roles in the Capitol riot. If convicted, they potentially face decades in prison.
The notoriously violent far-right extremist group has another problem: It claims that mainstream tech companies are blacklisting them. On Sunday, the Proud Boys reposted a complaint about companies banning its members. The complaint was originally posted by Rufios Rebel Life.
Rufios Rebel Life is a private Telegram channel that appears to belong to Proud Boy Ethan Nordean, who is known as Rufio Panman within the group. A site that aggregated posts by Rufios Rebel Life includes a link to a fundraiser Nordean organized for “protective gear and communications” weeks before the Capitol riot. It also includes multiple links to his podcast, Rebel Talk with Rufio.
Nordean has also used the screen name RebelRufio and said that he wanted to create a new political party called the Rebels of America Party, according to USA Today.
Nordean is part of the group of Proud Boys being charged with sedition.
The Telegram post the Proud Boys shared on Sunday claims that Uber, Airbnb, PayPal, CashApp, Venmo, Stripe, Shopify, and Chase Bank have refused to do business with its members.
“We are getting blacklisted from everything,” Nordean or whoever is running Rufios Rebel Life wrote.
“Keep us in your prayers and thank you for all your support,” they concluded.
The complaint found a sympathetic audience on Telegram. Dozens of subscribers posted prayer emojis.
Elsewhere, however, people weren’t as distressed by the Proud Boys’ woes. They also suggested that the Proud Boys shouldn’t complain about businesses choosing not to associate with them. The Proud Boys claim they are staunch supporters of freedom, after all.
“Individual businesses, banks, airlines, etc., are making the decision that they don’t want J6 participants in their customer base, exercising exactly the freedom the MAGAts claim to support,” @sfoguj wrote. (MAGAts is a pejorative for people who support former President Donald Trump, such as the Proud Boys.)
Many wrote various versions of “fuck around and find out” in response to the Proud Boys’ complaint.
Several declined to pray for the Proud Boys’ Uber accounts.
“Well, add withholding thoughts and prayers to that list,” wrote one.
