Boise police remove ‘Proud Boys’ flags from Idaho interstate

August 2, 2021 9:27 AM

Associated Press,

Posted: August 2, 2021 9:27 AM

by Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Boise Police Department says officers removed flags emblazoned with the emblem of the neo-fascist Proud Boys organization after someone hung them from several overpasses on a busy Idaho interstate.

Police spokesperson Haley Williams told the Idaho Statesman that officers removed the flags on Saturday morning. It wasn’t immediately clear who hung up the flags on Interstate 84 overpasses in Boise, but Williams said anyone with information should contact the police department.

The Proud Boys are considered a hate group by organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Proud Boys members describe themselves as a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists.” Several members of the group have been charged in federal court with offenses related to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The flags mark the second recent public display from the neo-fascist group in southern Idaho. Proud Boys members marched in a Sagebrush Days community parade in Buhl in early July, raising concerns for many. At the time, the Buhl Chamber of Commerce which organizes the parade told The Times-News newspaper in Twin Falls that it would not “feed into any negative propaganda” about the Proud Boys’ appearance.