Trump Ally Roger Stone Endorses ‘Proud Boy’ For Hawaii House
Nick Ochs, who’s running as a Republican, is affiliated with a far-right organization prone to violence that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as a hate group.
WASHINGTON — Roger Stone, a confidant of President Donald Trump who was convicted by a federal jury of lying, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, recently endorsed a Hawaii candidate for the state House of Representatives.
Nick Ochs is running as a Republican for House District 22, which represents Waikiki, Ala Moana and Kakaako, against Adrian Tam, who unseated incumbent state Rep. Tom Brower in the Democratic primary.
Ochs is the founder of the Proud Boys of Hawaii, a far-right organization he described in as the political counterpunch to the Aloha State’s liberal establishment.
He said the group is a pro-gun, anti-feminist, America-first movement that supports Trump, closed borders and an end to political correctness. Ochs told HPR that while the Proud Boys are not racist they are “anti-racial guilt” and “Western chauvinist.”
“The only thing you have to do to become a Proud Boy is declare yourself to be a proud Western chauvinist,” Ochs said. “It’s just to say that we think Western culture is the best and we need make no apology for that.”
Nationally, the Proud Boys have become with groups opposing white supremacy and calling for more racial equity.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the , noting that its members have appeared at extremist gatherings, such as the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 in which a self-identified white supremacist drove his car into a group of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring many more.
Stone, who’s a known supporter of the Proud Boys, endorsed Ochs in a brief video the candidate posted to his Twitter account on Friday.
“I know that he’ll fight to protect the taxpayers and to run a clean, efficient government,” Stone said of Ochs. “He’s a man you can count on.”
Stone, a self-proclaimed “,” was indicted as a part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He was found contained in the indictment for his part in lying to and misleading congressional investigators who themselves were looking into Russian meddling in American politics.
Stone was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, but Trump .
