Nelson Diaz, the county chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Party was filmed alongside members of a hate group, pounding a door at a rowdy protest against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as she visited a Democratic campaign headquarters in South Florida. Law enforcement found the crowd to be so threatening that officers locked down the building.
The video of Diaz was filmed by Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Miami chapter of CRTV host Gavin McInnes’ often-violent Proud Boys hate group. Tarrio has maintained control of the chapter despite having attended the violent white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year—for which multiple Proud Boys were said to have been disavowed by the group. Tarrio told local news after the 2017 Unite the Right melee that he had attended the rally to protest the removal of Confederate monuments but after he “saw the tiki torch thing” that he was “completely against it.” Tarrio and the Miami Proud Boys traveled to Portland, Oregon, for a Patriot Prayer rally that was expected to turn violent and ended in chaos.
Standing just feet away from Diaz while recording the video, Tarrio yells “Open up! It’s some Proud Boys in here.”
On Friday, Miami columnist and broadcaster Grant Stern reported:
A chaotic mob scene ensued as the Republican party leader and his followers spewed expletives at House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi while she entered a Democratic Congressional campaign office.
Ironically, Diaz and his followers demonstrated an utter lack of respect for private property to shout “communista” while trespassing in a narrow alleyway, before demanding entry to the Democratic event.
Video of the attack published by the far-right wing website “Big League Politics” was shot by Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Miami Proud Boys. He recorded the video of Diaz personally pounding on the side-door to Democratic nominee Donna Shalala’s campaign office.
[…]
Miami Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio went to Charlottesville personally last year during the massive hate rally with “tiki torch Nazis” that killed counter-protester Heather Heyer.
Responding to Stern, Diaz denied collaborating with the Proud Boys to organize his angry mob protest. Diaz reportedly planned the protest, and was videotaped slamming on a campaign office door through which Pelosi entered moments earlier.
On Instagram, Tarrio has shared photos of himself aboard a boat in New York City with McInnes and Milo Yiannopoulous, whose direct collaboration with white supremacists while working at Breitbart was publicized by BuzzFeed. He also purports on Instagram to be a “Fourth Degree” member of the group—the highest rank within the group given to members who engage in violence against the group’s perceived opponents.
The Proud Boys’ presence alongside GOP establishment figures in Florida further demonstrates the Republican Party’s adoption of a neo-fascist fight club into its ranks from coast-to-coast. All the while, deceptive and fear-mongering Republican messaging heading into midterms would have voters led to believe that Democrats are coming to murder them.
Image: Screenshot via CBS 4 News
This article was previously published by Right Wing Watch and is reprinted here with permission.