NAACP Calls On Woodbridge Mayor McCormac To Denounce Proud Boys

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — This week, the Perth Amboy branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called on Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac and all other elected officials in town to denounce the Proud Boys.

As Patch has reported, the Proud Boys started showing up to Woodbridge council meetings last fall, wearing yellow and black and always covering their faces with black bandannas to shield their identities.

They were in attendance at the most recent Council meeting, last Tuesday, which you can watch here. A member of the group said the Feb. 15 meeting will be the last one they will be attending.

"This is the last time you're going to see the Proud Boys," he said.

"We call for the elected and appointed officials of Woodbridge to join us in standing against this designated terrorist hate group," read a press release issued Wednesday by the Perth Amboy NAACP. "We call on Woodbridge leaders ... to denounce this defined terrorist hate group, and make it clear that they are not welcome — that hate has no home in Woodbridge Township."

For months now, some Woodbridge residents have been calling on McCormac to publicly denounce the Proud Boys. So far, McCormac has refused and appears to ignore their requests.

In response to the NAACP's request this week, McCormac said in a statement given through a spokesman:

“The Township of Woodbridge denounces hatred in all forms and in all venues. It goes without saying that hate has no place in Woodbridge."

One man named Burt (last name not given) spoke at the Dec. 15 council meeting, said he lives in Woodbridge and has been a member of the Proud Boys since 2016. He also said he was gay.

"We are men in this community, with children in the school system, tax money in the school system; we are small-business owners and workers in this community. We have skin in this game," he said. "We are tired of being accused of white supremacy and racism, when our group is beyond diverse of every color, religion, sexual orientation and we are tired of being accused of intimidation."

The Proud Boys are far-right, Western supremacy group. The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified the Proud Boys as a hate group. At that Dec. 15 meeting, this video showed them clashing with Black Lives Matter members on the steps of Woodbridge town hall.

Many members have been linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

"One self-identified member of the Proud Boys again spoke anonymously during public comments, wearing a Proud Boys 'POW J6 2021 You Are Not Forgotten' shirt, disgracefully comparing those rightfully arrested for the deadly January 6 Capitol insurrection to our nation’s military prisoners of war missing in action," said the NAACP.

"We unequivocally denounce the Proud Boys, and condemn their hateful public comments," the release continued.

Gary White and Glenn Morgan of the Woodbridge Human Rights Commission publicly denounced the Proud Boys at their February 7 meeting. So far, they are the only Woodbridge officials to publicly denounce the group.

Previously: Proud Boys, BLM Spar At Woodbridge Council Meeting (Dec. 17)

The release was co-signed by the Woodbridge Youth for Liberation and Equity, a group called Positive Change Woodbridge and the Rahway, New Brunswick and Metuchen-Edison branches of the NAACP, among other groups.

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