The Proud Boys billboard that popped up in a small southern Illinois town this past week was likely the most public invitation to the far-right, all-male extremist group — but it’s not necessarily a sign it’s back on the rise, researchers say.
The billboard was displayed in Breese, a town of close to 5,000 people and about 40 miles east of St. Louis. But it was taken down within a few days amid strong community opposition to the extremist group and the sign’s placement near a high school.
The ad reflects a statewide uptick in the group’s recruitment efforts, especially of younger people, said Rachael Fugardi, a senior research analyst at Southern Poverty Law Center who monitors Proud Boys chapters across the U.S. It’s also in line with an increase in activity among Proud Boys chapters across the country, compared to this time last year.
The Peoria-based River City chapter, which claimed responsibility for the billboard, is among several “that have re-emerged after little to no activity in the past few years,” Fugardi said.
“And so even though it’s an increase, the Proud Boys are still in overall decline compared to their influence, membership and activities five years ago,” she added.
The Proud Boys, considered by several organizations as a hate group with white supremacist ties, played a key role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. James Robert “Jim Bob” Elliott, of Aurora, was among the Proud Boys ensnared in the massive federal investigation into the attack.
In Illinois, the group has three verified chapters in Chicago, Crystal Lake and Peoria.
Two factions of the Proud Boys have emerged since several of its leaders, including former chairman Enrique Tarrio, were convicted — and later pardoned by President Donald Trump — for their involvement in the Capitol attack, Fugardi said. The national faction has remained loyal to Tarrio, while the other “standard faction” emphasizes its autonomy and rejects Tarrio.
While recruitment is nothing new for the Proud Boys and similar extremist groups, it’s usually done more discretely through online apps and even video game chatrooms. Even the most public recruitment efforts typically have lower cost and risk, such as distributing fliers or stickers, said David Goldenberg, chief of staff at the Anti-Defamation League.
“We’ve never seen a billboard before,” Goldenberg said. “But we’ve also seen groups be more brazen in recent years, and brazen not only in their actions or targeting of individuals or groups. … In this case, obviously, this is a very high-profile statement to make.”
‘Stale and out of touch’
Young men are no longer as attracted to the Proud Boys as they once were, researchers say. The group, founded in 2016, has seen a significant dip in activity since the insurrection and has experienced infighting as its leadership has fractured.
“New groups and movements are more appealing to the younger generation of far-right activists,” Fugardi said. “The group lacks the allure it once had, and it’s sort of seen as stale and out of touch.”
The group that once marketed itself as Trump’s “army” has now partially turned on the president over his reported ties to Jeffrey Epstein and handling of Epstein’s criminal files, as well as his continued support for Israel’s war in Gaza, Fugardi said.
But Proud Boys chapters still have aligned with some of Trump’s policies and orders during his second term, most notably the administration’s crackdown on immigration.
Many chapters likely feel “emboldened” under Trump’s presidency, embracing his conservative policies and “seeing it as a good moment to try and start recruiting again,” said Freddy Martinez, co-director of research at Lucy Parsons Labs, which also tracks extremist groups’ online activity.
The billboard doesn’t quite indicate the group is planning to ramp up political activity across Illinois. Rather, it was mostly an effort to increase membership and remind the community that Proud Boys are “around and available for action,” Martinez.
Other than the national uptick that has followed the group’s overall decline, Fugardi and Martinez haven’t noticed a significant increase in the group’s online or in-person activity outside its three confirmed chapters in Illinois.
Still, Goldenberg noted, “the Chicago area is not immune to white supremacist propaganda and extremist propaganda.”
Hate crimes have skyrocketed in Illinois since 2020, when there were 85 reported across the state. In 2024, there was a five-year high of 381 reported hate crimes in Illinois, according to FBI data.