Government officials weren’t the only folks rattled by the Proud Boys rally Saturday in Portland, as UK apparel maker Fred Perry bemoaned the conservative group’s use of its wreath logo and black-and-yellow striped shirts.
“Fred Perry does not support and is in no way affiliated with the Proud Boys,” the company said in a statement. “It is incredibly frustrating that this group has appropriated our black/yellow/yellow twin-tipped shirt and subverted our laurel wreath to their own ends.”
The black and yellow colors and laurel wreath were prominently featured at a Proud Boys rally in Portland on Saturday.
Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, has invited Chandler Pappas on stage as the event in Portland officially kicks off Another man in flag bonnet “Flip,” says he is Vice President of Portland Proud Boys pic.twitter.com/ea1yUbiS9Y
Shane Moon was hit by a driver after a memorial for Jay Danielson in Vancouver. Says he was in hospital for three days, can’t hear out of left ear “I’m not going to let no sissies sucker punch me with a truck to keep me from being out here.” pic.twitter.com/oPVAIlmOUY
Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio seemed to take pleasure in annoying Fred Perry, tweeting early Saturday: “That moment when you make Fred Perry stop making a design they have for decades. Maybe we’ll change our colors to one of their best sellers just to flex.”
That moment when you make Fred Perry stop making a design they’ve had for decades…Maybe we’ll change our colors to one of their best sellers just to flex. https://t.co/q2bo9BKfj8
Fred Perry has been trying to distance itself from the Proud Boys, which has been called “white nationalist” by media outlets and the Southern Poverty Law Center, for at least three years. The group bills itself as a fraternal group of “Western chauvinists” that has nothing to do with white supremacy.
Nevertheless, the group’s image is so problematic for Fred Perry that the company stopped selling its black-and-yellow striped shirts in the US in 2019 and said it won’t resume selling them in the US or Canada “until we’re satisfied that its association with the Proud Boys has been ended.” The company added that “we are working with our lawyers to pursue any unlawful use of our brand.”
Oregon Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency for Portland in advance of Saturday’s Proud Boys rally in the city, saying“white supremacist groups” were traveling from out of town to “harass or intimidate Oregonians.” Proud Boys said the rally was organized to end domestic terrorism.
Portland has been gripped by more than 100 days of violent Black Lives Matter protests since late May. The last time the Proud Boys held a demonstration in the city, one of its members, Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson, was stalked and shot dead by a self-avowed Antifa supporter.
After the group held a memorial service a week later in nearby Vancouver, Washington, one of its members was purposely run over in a parking lot and injured, allegedly by a truck driven by an Antifa activist.
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