The Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, pledged allegiance to President Donald Trump on Tuesday night after he told the group to "stand back and stand by" during the first presidential debate.
Many people on social media who identify with the group echoed that language, saying they were "standing down and standing by." One known social media account for the group made "Stand back. Stand by" part of its new logo.
Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University in North Carolina who tracks online extremism, said Trump's giving the Proud Boys orders was their long-sought "fantasy."
"To say Proud Boys are energized by this is an understatement," Squire said. "They were pro-Trump before this shoutout, and they are absolutely over the moon now. Their fantasy is to fight antifa in his defense, and he apparently just asked them to do just that."
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...l-out-n1241512