After receiving a flood of negative press and their leader, Sean Adam Kuykendall, the owner of Andrew’s Appliance Repair, being outed as the President of the Central Valley Proud Boys, the Modesto Elk’s Lodge was flooded with a barrage of emails, asking them to cancel an upcoming event, organized by the far-Right street gang.

Far-Right GOP Candidate Daniel Mercuri speaking in Sacramento to crowd of Proud Boys and other neo-fascist groups against the police killing of Washington DC attempted coup participant, Ashli Babbit

The event scheduled for July 30th, was to feature long-shot far-Right GOP candidate Daniel Mercuri, known for speaking at far-Right rallies alongside the Proud Boys and promoting a host of conspiracy theories. On June 6th, Mercuri spoke at a demonstration against the police killing of Ashli Babbit, the Trump and Qanon supporter who was shot and killed by law enforcement during the attempted coup in Washington DC on January 6th. The rally was organized and attended by various far-Right groups like the Proud Boys and American Guard. 

Soon after the July 30th event was cancelled by the Elk’s Lodge in Modesto, posts on far-Right social media platforms announced that the event would be re-scheduled at a private location in Manteca, followed by a rally against “child trafficking” and “pedophilia.” 

For over a year, Qanon supporters have attempted to hijack grassroots campaigns against child trafficking in an effort to popularize their pro-Trump, far-Right conspiracy theory. While everyone can agree that pedophilia and child trafficking is horrific, the Proud Boys and Qanon supporters have weaponized this widespread opposition to child abuse to push conspiracies that see all opponents of Donald Trump as part of an international secret cabal of Satanic pedophiles that engage in child sacrifice.

We have already seen examples of this play out in Modesto. During the second “Straight Pride Rally” in 2020, Proud Boys and their supporters branded the rally along lines that would attract Qanon supporters; claiming the rally was against “child trafficking” and “pedophilia.” Members of the Proud Boys displayed a massive banner reading “#PatriotsAgainstPedophilia, One Cure,” next to an image of an assault rifle. The implied association between the LGBTQ community and pedophilia was clear: as was the Proud Boys’ solution: mass violence and outright murder.

The Proud Boys are continuing to use the #PatriotsAgainstPedophilia hashtag to promote Daniel Mercuri’s run for California Governor, in an attempt to popularize the Qanon conspiracy theory within California Republican politics.

Photos of ticket-stubs for the upcoming Daniel Mercuri benefit posted to social media accounts associated with the Proud Boys also feature the phone number, (209) 416-2825, which is the office phone for JNC Tax LLC, which is owned by Jeyna Maire Griffin, a member of the Central Valley Proud Boys/Militia. Griffin is also known for her close association with Denise Aguilar, of the Freedom Angels and Mamalitia. Both Griffin and Aguilar attended the attempted pro-Trump DC coup on January 6th.

According to the Proud Boys, they will be announcing the location of their benefit event a week before July 30th. Local community members should be ready to mobilize and demand that these far-Right fascist groups and the violence that they thrive on has no place in our communities.

The Proud Boys are also organizing a rally on July 30th in Manteca, at Main Street and Louise Ave, part of what they claim is a “World Wide Awareness Day Against Sex Trafficking of Children.”

Jeyna Marie Griffin, a Modesto Proud Boys organizer who participated in the attempted pro-Trump coup in Washington DC that is directly involved in promoting and fundraising for Daniel Mercuri’s campaign.

By attaching themselves to the fight against child abuse and sex trafficking, the Proud Boys are attempting to give themselves and their far-Right politics a cover; cloaking their ideas in something seemingly innocuous. It’s up to the wider community to call bullshit on these deception campaigns and call them out for what they are: fascist thugs which advance a reactionary and bigoted agenda that ultimately serve the corporate and anti-working-class elites in the Republican party whose candidates they hope to elect.