Pall told the officer he did not know who the attackers were but thought he knew what they were: anti-fascist activists known as “antifa.” An “antifa” website later published a blog post detailing the attack and claiming responsibility.Īfter the beating, Pall tweeted a photo of his face and hands covered in blood. Pall said one yelled, “He is wearing a Trump shirt! He’s a Nazi!” and three surrounded him, pummeling his head, hands and arms and shattering his cell phone.

He told police the men had targeted him as a Trump supporter because of his T-shirt, which read: “Basket of Deplorables 2016.” According to Madison police, as Pall was returning to his new friends, he was approached on the street by men in hoodies with what Pall described as baseball bats or wooden sticks. For Thaddeus Pall, it was a rare opportunity to openly express his support for President Donald Trump in liberal Madison.Īs the men were leaving the bar for a member’s apartment, Pall, then 26, separated from the group to buy cigarettes. The meeting would establish the Wisconsin chapter of an emerging national group called the Proud Boys. The men, all of them white and most in their 20s, had met online and were getting together for the first time. In May, eight men met at Mackesey’s Irish Pub in downtown Madison to drink beer and talk politics. Have you experienced hate or bias in Wisconsin? If so, tell us your story here. More from this seriesĪcross Wisconsin, recent rises in hate, bias incidents spark concern Tell us your story You can also listen to an extended audio report with Hall on To The Best Of Our Knowledge. ListenĪlexandra Hall reports on the Proud Boys for Wisconsin Public Radio and about the ethics of covering controversial stories on The Morning Show. In an attempt to collect data and stories on hate and discrimination incidents in our community, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has joined ProPublica’s Documenting Hate project.

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