The centrality of this ethos of eliminationist violence—its celebration and cultivation, the training and preparation for it, the essential role it played in organizing events designed to provide opportunities for it directed against their concocted enemies—is what not only distinguishes the Proud Boys from ordinary street gangs and brawlers, but defines them unmistakably as neofascists—that is, a modern iteration of fascist organizing replicating its essential elements. As historian Robert O. Paxton puts it, a central “mobilizing passion” of fascism is “the beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, when they are devoted to the group's success.”

McInnes, Campbell explains, always put this ethos front and center of the Proud Boys’ raison d’etre: “Fighting solves everything,” he told his talk-show audience during its early stages of formation. “We need more violence from the Trump people.” He celebrated it on his show: “Remember violence? Remember how fun it was? Remember fighting? There’s no happier man than a guy that just won a fight.”

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