Why ‘Gavin McInnes: ‘Vice’ Founder to Far-Right Advocate’ Isn’t The Entire Story

According to Slate, in New York City on October 12, there was a violent altercation between the ‘Proud Boys’–a far-right group–and anti-fascist demonstrators.

Gavin McInnes, the founder of the ‘Proud Boys,’ was giving a speech inside The Metropolitan Republican Club, while the anti-fascist protestors were gathered outside. It is noted by Slate, that McInnes was also a co-founder of Vice Media, but left the company in 2008.

But how did a man who has been quoted by The Huffington Post as saying, “[maybe Jewish people were] ostracized for a good reason,” have his beginnings with a now-liberal news and documentary network? The connection cannot be so cut and dry.

And it isn’t. According to the Intelligencer, the Vice that we know today had starkly different beginnings. The magazine started in 1994 and had been seen as “an outlet for young people who found mainstream culture lame.” But upon looking back, the magazine’s original content is far from anything they would publish today, like an article they once wrote called: ‘”The Vice Guide to Shagging Muslims.”‘ At that time, though, McInnes was in charge of the editorial portion of the growing company, and so had final say on what was covered.

As Vice began to grow, McInnes’ rhetoric, behavior, and ideas started costing them money and respect, so the two other founders, Suroosh Alvi and Shane Smith, “bought [him] out.” In a recent article about last Friday’s altercation, Vice wrote, that McInnes “has not been involved in the company” since his departure in 2008.

Following their separation, Vice went on to become a multibillion-dollar company, and Gavin McInnes founded the ‘Proud Boys’ (2016) and started his CRTV show, Get Off My Lawn. According to the ‘Proud Boys’ website, the group prides itself on “refus[ing] to apologize for creating the modern world. Like Archie Bunker, [they] long for the days when ‘girls were girls and men were men.”

The group heavily prides themselves on older ways of thinking that they say are no longer accepted, and have been staunch Donald Trump supporters. They believe that rather than shying away from this line of thought, they must stand unified and be proud of their roots, which they credit as having created the entire Western world.

After their release yesterday, The Daily Beast reported that the New York Police Department will be charging multiple ‘Proud Boy’ members, as well as protestors for engaging in the violent altercation.