A viral video shows people wearing Proud Boys insignias being denied entry to former President Donald Trump’s rally in Wyoming on Saturday. Security there also said that QAnon signs and symbols were prohibited.
Proud Boys and QAnon conspiracy theorists are some of the most loyal Trump supporters. Since the Capitol riot, where both were heavily in attendance, the far-right group and conspiracists have been increasingly rejected by mainstream society.
Even as they’ve fallen out of favor, Trump himself has long resisted disavowing either. Just last month, he reportedly shared a QAnon conspiracy theory about himself on his struggling social media platform.
Refusing to let anyone wearing symbols associated with the groups into his rally may indicate that Trump is finally concerned with how being associated with them affects his image.
However, this isn’t the first time the issue has cropped up. In 2019, QAnon supporters at a Trump rally told the Washington Post that they’d been asked to cover or remove items that referenced the conspiracy theory.
At the time though, Trump was in office. While he is still under Secret Service protection, it’s unclear if the directive came from them, Trump, or another group helping with security at the event.
Trump didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment submitted on his website Wednesday morning.
Podcaster Louie Huey originally posted the video of security refusing to let people wearing Proud Boys regalia into the rally Trump held to support the Republican challenging Sen. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
Huey, who’s since deleted the video, was reportedly a member of the Proud Boys. After his video went viral, the Wisconsin branch posted on Telegram that he doesn’t belong to the group of self-described Western chauvinists.
In the video, captioned, “Proud Boys aren’t allowed at Trump rallies apparently,” a man argued with police and event security who refused to let him in.
“I’m telling you right now, any sort of Proud Boys or QAnon insignia has to go,” a member of security told the unidentified man.
“I’m gonna leave, I’m gonna leave. But we were invited,” the man responded.
Another member of security explained to him that such logos or insignia weren’t allowed inside.
“The Trump campaign gave us VIP tickets,” the man responded incredulously.
He continued pressing security as to why Proud Boys weren’t allowed inside.
“It’s a private event, they made the rules, man, that’s all I can say,” a member of security said before the video concluded.
Prominent Twitter user Ron Filipkowski tweeted the video Tuesday afternoon. It swiftly went viral. As of this writing, it’s been viewed more than 1 million times.
While many are amused that Proud Boys and QAnon symbols are banned from Trump rallies, more opined that the rule is merely about optics, rather than a fundamental disagreement with either group.
“Trump loves to have them there, he just doesn’t want photographic evidence of it,” wrote @RocksCoast.
Another commented on the video, “I believe what Trump is trying to say is…you did the job he hired you to do and now he doesn’t want to know you. You have been used and discarded, as per his usual MO.”
They’re likely alluding to Trump saying of the Proud Boys during one of the presidential debates, “Stand back and stand by.”
The video made its way to Proud Boys channels on Telegram. The Proud Boys: Long Island channel commented that it indicates that the police aren’t on their side.
This is the second time in a single weekend that the Proud Boys have been prohibited from attending an event. The National Rifle Association reportedly barred them from entering its annual convention in Texas.
