Proud Boys Clash with Community Members in Support of Killer Cop; Rally Alongside GOP Organizer Mylinda Mason

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On Tuesday, June 22nd, members of Proud Boy chapters across the Central Valley, American Guard, and the California Straight Pride Coalition (CSPC) rallied in support of Joe Lamantia, a former Modesto police officer that now faces charges for killing Trevor Seever in December 2020.

According to a report on It’s Going Down:

On Thursday, March 18th, Modesto police officer Joseph Lamantia was fired from his position and is now currently facing criminal charges of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Trevor Seever on December 29th, 2020. Since joining the Modesto Police Department back in 2008, Lamantia has also been involved in five other incidents that have resulted in four deaths, all of which have been cleared. In the case of Trevor Seever, Lamantia responded to a call for a wellness check from Seever’s family, only to find Seever behind a church and opened fire on him within seconds of exiting his vehicle; Seever was unarmed and died while being transported to a hospital.

Locals were tipped off to the rally after a screenshot began circulating showing a flyer advertising a protest outside of the police station in support of Lamatia followed by a show of force at the Modesto City “Councel.”

Proud Boys Come Out in Support of Killer Cop Fired by Department

Although the Proud Boys did not materialize for a rally at 9 AM like their flyer said, by early afternoon local community members began getting reports of a group of about 8 Proud Boys and their supporters outside of the police station. When one individual walked past and recorded them on their phone, the group responded by calling the person a “faggot” and throwing a water bottle at them.

The group then headed to Fuzios, a nearby local restaurant, before rallying outside of the Modesto City Council, where they were joined by members of the California Straight Pride Coalition, which is led by long-time anti-LGBTQ activist Don J. Grundmann, who resides in the bay area, and Mylinda Mason, the Modesto-based leader of the California Republican Assembly of Stanislaus, which provides support and fund raises for Trumpian Republican candidates and law enforcement. Mason is deeply tied to local Republican circles, elected officials, and also the far-Right. Before the City Council meeting began, she gave a speech about working directly with Sean, the leader of the Modesto Proud Boys.

In 2019, the CSPC, which states it believes in the superiority of “Whiteness”, “Western Civilization”, and “Christianity”, and calls the LGBTQ community literally “Satanic”, organized an attempted rally, but were denied a permit by the City of Modesto. The event only ended up bringing out around a 12 supporters, and was vastly outnumbered by hundreds of counter-protesters, who swarmed the demonstration in front of an empty Planned Parenthood building with large banners and signs. In the run up to the event, Grundmann stated in the media that local Proud Boys would be in attendance, however the organization issued a statement denying they were supporting the event. 

By summer of 2020 however, things had changed, and dozens of Proud Boys, American Guard, Boogaloo Boys, local militias, and QAnon supporters rallied alongside Grundmann and Mylinda. The rally ended with a far-Right supporter almost running someone over with their truck. The CSPC was also able to build connections with local pastors in the area who double as police chaplains, effectively building a bridge between the far-Right and local police.

Now in June of 2021, as the Modesto City Council meeting began, members of the Proud Boys attempted to intimidate Trevor Seever’s family and their supporters as they entered the chamber to attend the meeting. Over the next two hours, a handful of Proud Boys and others in their camp spoke, including two known to be from the Modesto area, and several from the surrounding region such as Josh Fulfer, known by many as “The Cum Shorts Guy.” Most of the comments made, both in person and through Zoom, were against the Proud Boys and in support of the Seever family and the creation of a police oversight committee that is supported by both local police and groups like the NAACP and ACLU.

Occasionally the Proud Boys would attempt to rush the mic or interrupt other speakers, but were quickly shut down. Their goal was to paint a basic reform proposal with limited power as the work of “Antifa,” “BLM,” and an example of a “creeping communist conspiracy”. Over and over, the Proud Boys argued that if implemented, the entire region would “go the way of cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles” and be “in ruins.”

One of the last people to speak on the far-Right side was none other than bay area resident and CSPC leader Don J. Grundmann, who stated that he worked closely with the Proud Boys, and used his time to announce the third annual Straight Pride Parade on August 28th, 2021, again outside of a vacant Planned Parenthood building.

After the meeting was over, the Proud Boys made their way outside and scuffled with a group of about a dozen bloc’d up antifascists, before both groups were separated by police.

Conclusions

It’s clear that the Proud Boys have been monitoring the growing movement for police reform around Trevor Seever and are looking to clamp down on it, using a barrage of anti-BLM, anti-antifa rhetoric, coupled with conspiracies.

But this strategy doesn’t seem to be working. By exposing themselves, the Proud Boys have already outed their leader, Sean Adam Kuykendall, (the owner of Andrew’s Appliance Repair), and showed their need to rely on members of chapters across the Central Valley to get boots on the ground. One of their members, Jeyna Marie Griffin, even admitted to taking part in the January 6th attempted pro-Trump coup, which some of their associates have already had their homes raided over. The Proud Boys were also joined in Modesto by members of the American Guard, a more overtly neo-Nazi version of the Proud Boys, formed by the racist skinhead, Brien James, as well as a group of Boomers from the CSPC who held signs in support of Lamantia. The presence of these other fringe groups do nothing to help the Proud Boys image.

So far the strategy of the Proud Boys has been to inject themselves into pro-Trump or anti-lockdown rallies and present themselves as “protectors against antifa”; but in Modesto, they’re simply going after a (white) working class family and having to align themselves with a vastly unpopular anti-LGBTQ group to do it.

Sean Adam Kuykendall, in middle.

As in other situations around the country, the Proud Boys also can’t contain themselves when it comes to violence. The group has demonstrated a need to engage in fights whenever possible; their stated politics are frequently shifting and self-contradicting, and it’s clear that most of their members are primarily interested in public displays of machismo and generating content for social media. Listening to their speeches at the city council, it’s clear very few were well-versed in the Seever case.  Some didn’t even know that the tape of the shooting had been released.

Regardless of their shortcomings, it’s clear that sections of the local GOP and far-Right groups based in the streets are attempting to come together to be a force both on the ground and in the halls of government – and more violence isn’t far behind. Before our enemies are able to solidify their alliances and entrench themselves, it is crucial that we come together, plan, and mobilize to defend our communities.