THE NEW YORK TIMES: The far-right Proud Boys are not known to operate in the country, but the designation makes it illegal for New Zealanders to support them.
New Zealand has declared the Proud Boys, the far-right American group that played a key role in the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to be a terrorist organization, making it illegal for New Zealanders to participate in or support its activities.
There was no evidence that the group was operating in New Zealand, but its activity has been observed in Australia and Canada, which designated the group a terrorist organization last year.
New Zealand’s prime minister can designate groups terrorist entities if they have carried out at least one terrorist act, and the government believed the Proud Boys’ involvement in the Jan. 6 attack was “consistent with the definition of a terrorist act,” it said in a statement from June 20. It said that the group’s “extreme right-wing ideology was founded on racist and fascist principles” and that it had shown a consistent fondness for violence. » | Daniel Victor | Friday, July 1, 2022
