Bay Area Proud Boys recruitment stickers were found scattered on the walls inside San Jose State’s West Parking Garage on San Salvador and Fourth streets Monday.
Business administration senior Ricky, who chose to only go by his first name for privacy concerns, was walking in the garage to his finance class around noon Monday when he saw the recruitment stickers plastered on the walls of the garage’s third floor.
“I was pretty surprised that [Proud Boys would] be at SJSU because I’m familiar with the group and what they stand for,” Ricky said in a phone call. “I don’t think that it reflects SJSU’s values at all.”
Those in the all-male group aim to restore masculinity and be “harbingers” of Judeo-Christian values that’ve been corrupted by “Feminism, Socialism, Communism, Critical Race Theory, Post Modernism, Progressivism, Gender Theory, Secularism and the Deification of Science,” according to its website.
Kenneth Mashinchi, senior director of strategic communications and media, said the university is aware of posters on campus and condemns incitement of fear and hate speech and/or activities perpetrated by groups including the Proud Boys.
Two stickers, one on the East San Salvador Street-facing door and the other stuck to a wall, were on the second floor, about seven stickers were on the third floor and three were on the garage’s fourth floor as of Monday.
One of the stickers in the 3-C area of the garage was covered by a smaller, circular sticker depicting a dove in front of flames with the phrase “no justice, no peace.”
The slogan was first used in the ’80s New York City protests against racist police violence and was most recently used by those supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, according to a July 15, 2020 Santa Clara University Markkula Center for Applied Ethics article.
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics is an organization that promotes the use of ethics to solve real-world problems, according to its website.
Some of the recruitment stickers featured the symbol of a rooster atop the group’s name surrounded by 20 stars while others had a QR code that directs those who see it to the Bay Area Proud Boys website.
“I'm really all for allowing people to support what they want to support,” applied computational math junior Theodore Ly said. “But I strongly believe the Proud Boys movement has turned into just one of just racism.”
The group’s values including minimal government, pro-free speech, closed borders, maximum freedom, “venerating the housewife” and pro-gun rights were advertised in the flyers on campus.
Ricky said he deems the Proud Boys as a white supremacist group that uses “dog whistles,” which he described as phrases that encompass more controversial ideas.
“They said closed borders, which really means anti-immigrant,” Ricky said. “So they won’t explicitly say that they’re racist but they use hidden messages that you can kind of tell [they’re racist].”
Ricky said it was odd the group was recruiting on campus because of the diverse student population.
About 34% of the student population is Asian, 28% Hispanic/Latinx, 15% white, 3% Black, .5% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and .1% Native American or Alaskan Native, according to an SJSU Institutional Research office Fall 2020 database.
Ricky said the group could be scouting for people of color to present an inclusion facade.
“White supremacy isn’t just limited to just white people,” he said. “They are also known for using token members so that they can just point to them and say, ‘we’re not racist because we have these members.’ ”
He said he felt safe on campus before he saw the stickers but feels less safe now because he didn’t know they were active in San Jose.
Communications senior Genevieve Escobedo said she questions the group’s agenda and its capabilities. She said the possibility that Proud Boys is on campus adds to her concerns about safety.
“Now that I've heard about this, it's also just really scary to see what other things could they possibly do if they're recruiting people for this group,” Escobedo said.
Mashinchi said while the university is aware of the recruitment flyers, no students or employees are known to be in the group.
“We are not aware of any involvement of campus affiliates — students or employees — in this organization,” Mashinchi said.
Ricky said he doesn’t believe the group should be on campus.
“They claim to be pro-free speech but in reality what that means is pro-hate speech for them,” he said. “Of course I believe in free speech but when that speech is inciting violence toward minorities then it shouldn’t be allowed or tolerated at all.”
Indoor postings must be dated and kept to “General Use Bulletin Boards,” according to SJSU’s Sept. 30, 2020 Time, Place and Manner policies.
Community members who are found violating the policy may face university discipline, according to the university policies.
Mashinchi said when campus community members see postings in violation of the policies, they should contact the University Police Department, which will then dispose of the postings and repair any damages.
“[The UPD] will then document these postings and collect information and evidence,” Mashinchi said. “It is important to note that while the posting may not be a criminal violation, the information collected can be useful for the campus to address potential climate issues or violations.”
Ricky said while it’s difficult to prevent hate groups from recruiting on campus and spreading their beliefs as San Jose is a large city, the university needs to address the issue and speak out publicly against the Bay Area Proud Boys.
“They don't condemn it at all with public statements or anything like that,” Ricky said. “So I think it should be stronger spoken about far-right groups like this.”
