Miami GOP Rocked by Brawls, Restraining Orders, and Membership Squabbles After Proud Boys Join Group

Photo by EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images.

The Republican Party of Miami-Dade County has been dealing with turmoil within its ranks — even erupting into physical brawls — in the wake of an influx of new members affiliated with the Proud Boys, the far-right nationalist group implicated in a series of violent altercations across the country, including the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

According to a new report by The New York Times’ Patricia Mazzei and Alan Feuer, at least six current and former members of the Proud Boys now have seats on the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee, the official county GOP organization affiliated with the state-level Republican Party of Florida (RPOF):

The concerted effort by the Proud Boys to join the leadership of the party — and, in some cases, run for local office — has destabilized and dramatically reshaped the Miami-Dade Republican Party that former Gov. Jeb Bush and others built into a powerhouse nearly four decades ago, transforming it from an archetype of the strait-laced establishment to an organization roiled by internal conflict as it wrestles with forces pulling it to the hard right. The conflict comes at a pivotal moment for Republicans nationally, as primary voters weigh whether to wrench the party from its extremist elements — or more fully embrace them.

The new members include several who are facing charges related to the Capitol attack, the Times reported, and the Proud Boys’ engagement with the local GOP marks a new focus for the group, which “dissolved its national leadership and encouraged chapters to get involved in local issues, with the goal of amassing support in advance of this year’s midterm elections.”

It’s a development that could potentially undermine gains Republicans have clawed out in recent years in an area viewed as a Democratic stronghold. Miami-Dade County has long voted blue in presidential elections, but the GOP has made steady gains. Former President Donald Trump still lost the county to President Joe Biden in 2020, but he narrowed the margin by a stunning 22 points compared to his 2016 result against Hillary Clinton. The GOP uptick has been fueled in large part by Trump’s improved support among Hispanic voters, who comprised about 72 percent of the Miami-Dade electorate.

A combination of an “influx of Proud Boys” and “radicalization of other members” following Trump’s rise in the GOP “have created considerable upheaval” in the county party, according to the Times. The report notes incidents going back years and include Proud Boys members being banned from the 2018 party Christmas shindig because of what then-chairman Nelson Diaz called their “reputation for being aggressive.” Another incident included an attempt by a Young Republicans-led group to oust party stalwarts like Liliana Ros, a septuagenarian active in the Miami-Dade GOP for more than four decades.

“The meetings are a bunch of fights, people screaming,” said Ros. “The nice people — the decent people, the people that are real Republicans — are leaving.”

An altercation during a party fundraiser at the Miami Beach landmark Fontainebleau Hotel in April escalated into a physical scuffle in the parking lot by the valet station. The Times describes a convoluted tale involving a GOP committeewoman who had a restraining order against another member affiliated with the Proud Boys, her ex-boyfriend (another Proud Boy) who had a restraining order against her, and a dispute over who was allowed to attend the $250-a-plate dinner with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as the keynote speaker. The dispute eventually ended with “[s]everal men in suits and a woman in a cocktail dress tussl[ing]” in the parking lot, the police being called, and at least one new request for a restraining order.

“Yes, we have fringe elements,” acknowledged current county chairman René García. “Yes, we have different points of view in our party. That’s how we are. And my job as Republican chairman is to protect everyone’s First Amendment right, however wrong they may be.”