FACT CHECK: Viral Image Claims To Show A Member Of The Proud Boys At A Michigan Protest

June 28th, 2020
TOPSHOT - Protestors try to enter the Michigan House of Representative chamber and are being kept out by the Michigan State Police after the American Patriot Rally organized by Michigan United for Liberty protest for the reopening of businesses on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan on April 30, 2020. - The group is upset with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's mandatory closure to curtail Covid-19. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

An image shared on Facebook claims to show a member of the Proud Boys at a protest in the Michigan Capitol building.

Facebook/Screenshot

Verdict: False

The image misidentifies the man. It shows Brian Cash, a local Michigan flooring installer.

Fact Check:

Social media users started sharing the image last month after a protest against coronavirus restrictions at the Michigan Capitol building. In the photo, a bearded man appears to be yelling while standing in close proximity to two masked police officers.

“This is Rob Cantrell,” claims the caption. “He lives in Los Angeles. He is a white supremacist who is being paid to attend the protests such as the one in Michigan yesterday. Trump says these are good people. This is the face of MAGA. Spread their shame.”

Rob Cantrall led an Oregon chapter of Proud Boys, an organization of self-proclaimed “western chauvinists,” according to BBC News. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called the men’s organization a “hate group.” But the man pictured is not Cantrall. (RELATED: Did Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Authorize ‘Lethal Force’ To Enforce Michigan’s Stay-At-Home Order?)

The photo actually shows Cash, a flooring installer from New Hudson, Michigan, according to the Detroit Free Press. Agence France-Presse photographer Jeff Kowalsky took the photo of Cash, who described himself as a marijuana activist, on April 30.

Cash told the Detroit Free Press that he didn’t know who Cantrall was at first, but became upset with being associated with someone he called a “racist” after doing research.

Matt Noel

Fact Check Reporter