New Zealand Classifies Proud Boys As Terrorist Entity

Radio New Zealand reports:

New Zealand has designated US groups the Proud Boys and The Base as terrorist entities. Set down in the government’s official journal of record – the gazette – last Monday, 20 June, it was published publicly a week later but with no wider dissemination.

The move – authorised by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster and signed off by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – makes anyone with property or financial dealings related to The Base and the Proud Boys liable for prosecution and up to seven years imprisonment under the Terrorism Suppression Act.

The American Proud Boys is a US neo-fascist group with members and leadership who have been federally indicted over the 6 January riots at the US Capitol. The Base is a paramilitary white nationalist hate group active in the US and Canada, with reports of training cells in Europe, South Africa and Australia.

The Washington Post reports:

It isn’t clear whether either far-right group has a significant presence in New Zealand, but authorities said the Base had attempted to expand into neighboring Australia. Former New Zealand attorney general Christopher Finlayson said in an email that officials were following “standard process” and that many groups on Wellington’s terrorism list were not active in the country.

Police officials noted the Base’s intention to start a race war and install a White ethno-state. They also cited the arrests of several Base members in the United States, accused of planning to kill a couple who held anti-fascist, or “antifa,” views. Law enforcement officials also said the Proud Boys’ participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington was a key reason for their designation.

Canada designated the Proud Boys and the Base as “terrorist entities” last year.