Hate Goes Mainstream With the Miami Proud Boys
Inside a rundown Lauderhill strip mall sits Hair and Such, Nothing but Wings II, and the Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office, where ballots are being recounted in three closely watched statewide elections. Outside, about 60 protesters gather in the parking lot. Some of them sport Make America Great Again hats. Others wear Andrew Gillum T-shirts. It's a blazing-hot Friday afternoon in early November. Everyone is sweating.
A helicopter hovers above the protesters, who are flanked by camera gear, TV reporters, and police officers wearing bulletproof vests. White paper signs with "Free Speech Zone" printed in black lettering are taped to poles. "Get Up, Stand Up" by Bob Marley hums in the background from a speaker that a protester brought to the lot.
A tall man wearing sunglasses and a hat emblazoned with "Proud Boys" in block letters walks through the crowd while holding an empty brown box with "Democrat Votes" scrawled in Sharpie across the side. "Look, more votes just turned up!" he says.