NZ declares Proud Boys and The Base terrorist groups

The Proud Boys’ involvement in US Capitol attack was cited in the ruling outlawing the extremist organisation

New Zealand's government has declared that American Far-Right groups the Proud Boys and The Base are terrorist organisations.

NZ officials say the Proud Boys involvement in the attack on the US Capitol amounted to an act of terrorism
They say a key goal of The Base is to "train a cadre of extremists capable of 'accelerationist' violence".

The Proud Boys are now banned in Canada and New Zealand, while The Base are banned in the UK, Canada, Australia and NZ.

The two groups join 18 others, including Islamic State, that have been given an official terrorist designation, making it illegal in New Zealand to fund, recruit or participate in the groups, and obligating authorities to take action against them.

The US groups are not known to be active in New Zealand, although the South Pacific nation has become more attuned to threats from the Far Right after a white supremacist shot and killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two Christchurch mosques in 2019.

The New Zealand massacre inspired other white supremacists around the world, including a white gunman who killed 10 black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

READ MORE
New Zealand declares Proud Boys and The Base terrorist groups (Guardian)

Photo: Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio was among the Proud Boys charged last month with seditious conspiracy over the January 6 attack on the Capitol