In August 2018, Trump invited about 180 bikers to his clubhouse in Bedminster, New Jersey and fed them sausage and beer. Even though military veterans and select members of law enforcement were also invited, the event was described as a “Bikers for Trump” rally. John Balazek, a member of Bikers for Trump, says, “We like him because he says what he thinks, he loves America and he doesn’t take any shit from anybody. That’s how bikers are too.”
Trump isn’t the only world leader who has a fondness for bikers. Outlaw bullies are also favored by Vladimir Putin, who has been photographed riding with the Russian bikers’ gang The Night Wolves. An almost paramilitary army, The Night Wolves fought alongside the Russian army in Crimea, set up a base in Slovakia and most recently rolled through Poland on the way to Berlin. Night Wolves have more than 5,000 members and branches in several European countries, including Serbia, Romania, Macedonia and Bulgaria.
In 2019 The Southern Poverty Law Center Tracked 940 Hate Groups across the U.S. Two relatively recent additions to the growing list of hate groups include Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys. The far-right group Patriot Prayer is based in Vancouver, Washington, just across the Oregon state line, a short jaunt to Portland. The group has organized pro-Trump rallies and targeted protests predominantly attended by liberals. Often working in tandem with far-right groups, inevitably violence erupts when they show up on the scene of any rally or protest. Proud Boys, another newcomer to the hate game, is far-right and neo-fascist. Notorious for glorifying violence, the group believes white men and western culture are under siege.
For someone who is habitually known for operating haphazardly out of chaos, Trump does, indeed, have his Brown Shirts. He has cultivated support from organized hate groups as well as by inciting individuals who attend his rallies. In the past few years, Trump has called directly on his supporters to use violence He once said at a 2016 rally in Las Vegas that he'd like to punch a protester in the face. At another event, he also encouraged his supporters to "knock the crap" out of any protesters causing trouble and promised to pay for the legal fees stemming from criminal charges.
Examples of random individuals who have taken Trump’s warmongering to heart and gone berserk include Cesar Sayoc, who in 2018 mailed pipe bombs to several Democratic Party politicians and other prominent critics of Trump. In August 2019, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius shot and killed 23 people and injured 23 others in El Paso, Texas after posting a manifesto with white nationalist and anti-immigrant themes. The shooting was described as the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern American history. And most recently, in August 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, a lone wolf with an AR-15 rifle, crossed state lines from Illinois into Wisconsin and shot three protesters, killing two in Kenosha. Both his attorneys and Trump have said his actions were in self-defense. Never mind the fact that he came to a protest armed with an AR-15 rifle.