Max and I introduced ourselves as working-class Trump supporters. After five minutes of macho man talk about fistfights, truck driving, and laying heavy pipes, they were sold. I mentioned my connection to the Book Club, and in order not to disrupt my cover story, identified myself as a neo-Nazi to every Proud Boy I met. That’s fine, they all told me. Gavin has a strict policy: no Nazi imagery or language is allowed in public, and especially when you talk to the press. There’s a pinned message in their private Facebook group stating this policy, they told me. Otherwise, you can believe and say whatever you want among other Proud Boys…
I mentioned I’m a fan of the Shoah, and Sal excitedly showed me his text messages with its host, TRS founder Mike “Enoch” Peinovich. “Mike and I text all the time” Sal beamed proudly, showing me dozens of messages as evidence. Sal claimed Peinovich and the rest of the TRS “pool party,” their euphemism for meetup groups, were on the way. They never showed.
