The Delaney Hall Proud Boys
Recent events portray the neo-fascist organization that shattered under pressure following January 6, 2021, as a group beyond the control of its leader.
Newark, N.J. — At least seven uniformed Proud Boys filed through crowds of protesters on May 30 to deliver bottled water and cookies to federal agents and other law enforcement officers stationed at the Delaney Hall immigrant detention center in Newark, New Jersey.
These Proud Boys, whose claim to the official title is dubious at best, joined several other pro-ICE protesters covered in MAGA paraphernalia who were present for less than an hour to provoke the crowd of protesters with shouting and chants.
Footage of the event spread and was shared by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, who celebrated the appearance. Current Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was quick to disavow the counter-protesters as fake Proud Boys.
An official Proud Boys X account called Proud Boys Spox released a statement shared by Tarrio alleging that the group was tied to former racist skin head and excommunicated leader of the Tennessee chapter Brien James and led by former leader of the New Jersey chapter Danny Mac, who testified against Tarrio during his seditious conspiracy trial following January 6, 2021.
“Official Statement from the Proud Boys May 30, 2026 6:52pm EST
Today, a group showed up outside the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, and was labeled in media reports as “Proud Boys.” These individuals are not Proud Boys.
They are associates of Brien James and part of a disavowed splinter faction.”
James has been the subject of previous Unicorn Riot coverage, specifically an appearance made by his American Guard, a spinoff of the Hammerskin-linked Vinlanders Social Club, along with Proud Boys at a California hate rally in 2023. John Camden, a leader of the American Guard, was responsible for organizing a homophobic rally in Boston, Massachusetts, in February, 2020.
“You want proof they’re not us? Just watch the videos from today,” the statement read. “When confronted, these so-called Proud Boys turned tail and ran like cowards. They scattered. That’s not how we operate.”
If these are not Proud Boys, then where are the Proud Boys?
The statement claims the Proud Boys are on the ground, but discreet, as though the organization still has the numbers to muster dozens for an event as they did in the past. Tarrio, who is considered a snitch by numerous former Proud Boys after his past as a federal informant was revealed during his trial, has dedicated much of his recent time to streaming on Rumble for an audience of 661 followers.
The Proud Boys who showed up at Delaney Hall may not be official Proud Boys according to Tarrio, but that does not mean they feel the same way. In fact, the appearance could signal change in an organization that was shattered following the attempted insurrection that put its leadership away in prison.
After the pro-ICE group finished delivering its drinks and snacks to the federal agents staffing Delaney Hall, one Proud Boy, an older man with gray hair and a Gadsden flag facemask, introduced himself to the press as Rufus Cutt and led an impromptu press conference in the street, outlining their reason for being there in the first place.
“First amendment is peaceful protests, this is bullshit protest and it should be cleared out,” Cutt said, gesturing at the crowd of protesters that was now chanting to protest the presence of the pro-ICE counter-protesters. “This isn’t right.”
Protesters had been gathering at the privately-run facility in support of roughly 300 detainees who began a hunger strike on May 22 to raise awareness of the poor conditions inside the prison-like building. Since the beginning, federal agents and state police have met crowds with excessive force and brutality, arresting more than 80 protesters as of June 6, according to PBS News.
Throughout the protests, federal agents have charged crowds with batons and pepper spray, forcing them up against a road where semi-trucks regularly passed.
A journalist in the press pool pushed back against Cutt, saying the protests were peaceful until they were escalated by law enforcement officers.
“Do you watch the TV?” Cutt said, cutting the man off before he could finish his point.
“I’ve been here every day,” he responded.
“Yeah, that’s real peaceful,” Cutt stated, shutting the journalist down.
“Rufus Cutt” is the pseudonym of a Farmingdale electrician and right-wing Facebook page admin Greggory Kray Forrest.
Cutt, or Forrest, mentioned to the press on May 30 that he is a business owner and has a Facebook group called Garden State Deplorables. One of the admins, Forrest Electric, is a business account owned by Greg where he posted a picture of himself unmasked at a MAGA rally.
Forrest and his wife Sharon co-admin the Facebook group, which was created on June 4, 2024, and has a membership of 15,000. The page and its members regularly spew misinformation and AI-generated memes pertaining to New Jersey and national politics.
The group even has a GoDaddy Airo website of the same name, which claims the group was formed in January 2021 “after the injustice done to the American people.”
The logo for the group is a skull wearing a colonial tricorn hat with double lightening bolts on either side in front of an outline of New Jersey flanked by Betsy Ross flags. The colors of the logo are black and gold, a color pallet favored by the Proud Boys.
The website landing page – the only page of the website – hosts 15 images, mostly low quality jpegs from past rallies and flyers for future events. Among them is a rambling document written in a stock cursive font made to resemble a classic pen-and-ink document reminiscent of the Declaration of Independence titled “The Democrat.”
“Democrats are politically brainwashed to the point they accept policies that clearly hurt them,” the document starts. “They also ignore the fact that the ‘Epstein Files’ were never released during the 4 yers Joe Biden was in office, despite all the talk about ‘exposing the truth.’”
Three images in the batch advertise the “Central Jersey Proud Boys,” including an image of group members making the OK hand gesture while campaigning for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate and far-right radio host Bill Spadea.
In the line-up, third from the right, is one of the Proud Boys who was present at Delaney Hall, an older man with a clean-shaven head and scarring around his mouth.
While Forrest was arguing with a journalist about J6 – the journalist held it up as an example of a violent protest led by Proud Boys – the same Proud Boy, wearing wrap-around sports sunglasses, leaned forward, pointing at the journalist, and yelled, “You know who the fucking virus is? You, motherfucker.”
The other Proud Boy images include the “Proud Boys Prayer” and a flyer for the Central Jersey group, linking an email address and two dead social media accounts.
An administrator of the Garden State Deplorables, who did not identify themself, said the inclusion of the Proud Boys material on the webpage is an advertisement for the group, whose members “are strong supporters and help protect our group members.”
Forrest responded to emails initially under the alias Pacesetter, claiming “Rufus” was, in reality, an FBI agent who kept the group out of trouble. Later, he backtracked from that story.
“I’m Rufus,” he wrote. “I’m not FBI. I’m just trying to do the right thing.”
Forrest said the Central Jersey chapter is completely independent of the national organization and was founded relatively recently, though he could not provide the exact dates. Within the small group, which he said has a membership of roughly 50, his roles include public relations and “foot troop.”
In reference to the official statement released by the Proud Boys account and shared by Tarrio, Forrest was clear that his chapter still completely backed Tarrio despite some of his fellow chapter members calling him a rat.
“Proud Boy [sic] Spox doesn’t speak for us,” Forrest wrote. “We are True to the Club. Proud Boy [sic] Spox should [sic] been out with our boys instead of criticism [sic]. We Believe Proud boy [sic] spoc is antifa. They should have contacted us instead of putting the club down. After Delaney we had ton [sic] of applications we will be the biggest on [sic] east coast. We do not need their blessings.”
On whether the chapter is affiliated with Brien James as alleged in the official Proud Boys statement, Forrest dismissed the claim completely.
“As far ar [sic] Brien that is some KKK nut,” Forrest wrote. “Not sure who the hell he [sic] affiliated with.”
Forrest claimed there were Proud Boys out of uniform in the event, and one appearance in particular stands out. A man wearing a blue and red Nacho Libre lucha mask stood at the metal barricade separating the protesters from the pro-ICE counter-protesters, heckling the crowd in a black MAGA hoodie.
The masked man was present at the J6 five-year anniversary rally earlier this year and has been photographed alongside a Native American headdress-wearing Proud Boy on Facebook who goes by Skodus Kuntree. Kuntree is close with James, and boosts his new accounts whenever he gets banned from the platform.
Forrest refused to give any names of the chapter’s leadership, but referred to the group as belonging to “Chester and Bob.”
Another claim made by the official Proud Boys is that the group splintered off of the New Jersey Proud Boys after the chapter’s former leader, Danny Mac, testified against Tarrio during his trial. The telling would imply that the Central Jersey Proud Boys was set up as the faction of New Jersey Proud Boys who chose to stay with Mac.
Forrest claims to have once been friends with Mac before he “moved away,” adding that Mac was never a part of the Central Jersey chapter.
As quickly as they arrived at Delaney Hall, the Proud Boys left. Forrest, following the railroad tracks, was eventually separated from the other group members and harangued by protesters.
“You just going to walk down the tracks all day, you stupid fuck?” A protester shouted at Forrest as he walked away carrying a red Gatorade in one hand.
On June 5, Enrique Tarrio made an appearance at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, to show support for the murder trial of Karmelo Anthony for the 2025 killing of Austin Metcalf.
More specifically, his appearance followed somebody outside the courthouse referring to self-described “investigative journalist” Sarah Fields as the Proud Boys’ secretary. For the past year, Fields has been spreading misinformation about the Metcalf incident and has attracted anger from the local community.
Tarrio was not accompanied by a troop of Proud Boys, but at least one man wearing a patch of the group’s insignia on his plate carrier.
Forrest said some of the Central Jersey Proud Boys members came from the New Jersey chapter, and those members said the official chapter was too inactive and that members “seemed to be afraid to show themselves.”
“Our theme is be seen be heard,” Forrest wrote. “We aren’t dead. We are still here.”
Despite his earlier support for the Central Jersey chapter’s appearance, Proud Boys founder and former leader McInnes posted a 10-Year Anniversary flyer the next day that called Proud Boys to Greenwood Park in Brooklyn, New York, on May 30. After an hour, the group would walk to the Green-Wood cemetery to pay homage to the nativist gang leader William “Bill the Butcher” Poole, who died in 1855.
“This is where real Proud Boys were at yesterday,” McInnes wrote.
The accompanying picture of the headstone included no visible Proud Boys in the area.
Cover image contributed by L. Cam Anderson.
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