Who are the Proud Boys and why did Trump tell them to ‘stand by’?
VIOLENCE has erupted between the Proud Boys and Antifa after thousands of Donald Trump supporters protested over the election result.
Here is more on the far-right activists who describe themselves as a male-only club of “Western chauvinists” and have been accused of inciting violence.
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The group was established during the 2016 presidential election in the months before Donald Trump won the White House.
"Those who enter the third degree have demonstrated their commitment by getting a Proud Boys tattoo."
The SPLC adds: "Any man - no matter his race or sexual-orientation - can join the fraternal organization as long as they 'recognize that white men are not the problem'.
"Women have their own contingent called the ."
The group denies any connection to the racist "alt-right," according to the SPLC, claiming they are simply a "fraternal group spreading an 'anti-political correctness' and 'anti-white guilt' agenda."
Debate moderator Chris Wallace asked Mr Trump if he was willing to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and tell them to “stand down” and not add to violence during recent protests in cities such as Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin.
"But I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, somebody’s gotta do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem."
"Clark Park remains a place where folks from all walks of life come to recreate and to convene and to just be," City Council member Jamie Gauthier told the newspaper.
"The white supremacist hate group that plan to come here today, they set out to disrupt all of that.”
She added: "If these Boys come here today, they’re going to go home to their miserable lives.
"But we will still have work to do."
Did they oppose Black Lives Matter protests?
The group opposes which is an umbrella term for far-left militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
They have appeared at protests around the country in recent years, including at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017
What happened in Washington D.C.?
Four people were stabbed and one shot as backing President Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud led to clashes in major US cities on December 12.
Scuffles broke out in many places between rally-goers and counter-protesters who turned up to criticize the president, who lost the November 3 election to Democrat Joe Biden but is yet to concede.
Trump fans - including the far-right Proud Boys – descended on Washington D.C. for another 'Million MAGA March'.
Among the protesters, members of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys were clearly visible - in their signature black-and-yellow outfits, some wearing bulletproof vests - and they often drew cheers from others in the crowd.
Some blocks away, supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement held their own, much smaller, rally, chanting "Nazis out!"
Police, some in riot gear, used their bodies and bicycles to keep the groups apart.
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There was also at least one clash between police and counter-protesters.
Similar events took place in Olympia, Atlanta and St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as in smaller towns in Nebraska, Alabama and elsewhere.