This piece deserves so much recognition. I can't imagine the stomach you must have to have walked among fascists for so long. This is such a thorough take, masterful photography, and this line says it all.

PBs brutally assaulted several of my close comrades on Saturday, and I watched them terrorize my city for hours after nightfall. I grew up in Northeast DC as well and then inner city Baltimore, and I can tell a street gang as well. It's not the first time I've felt unsafe in the streets I call home. But the threat posed by the Proud Boys is different. It's wrong to boil them down to "just another gang" precisely because they are political. They didn't organize and arm themselves to survive in a broken system. They did it to defend the lie of white supremacy, to resist American progress, and to worship Donald fucking Trump. That fact disturbs me on such a strong level, and it deserves every American's immediate attention. Thank you for speaking the truth, even when so many don't want to hear it.