American Legion Removes Escondido Post Commander from National Leadership Role Over Proud Boys Affiliationhttps://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2021-01-03/american-legion-investigating-escondido-post-commander-after-street-brawls-and-proud-boy-declarationAn Escondido American Legion post commander has been removed by the veterans service organization from two national leadership roles after he bragged on social media about participating in a street brawl and joining the Proud Boys, the California state commander said Saturday.
Photos shared on two social media accounts show J.B. Clark Post 149 Commander Michael Sobczak, 56, wearing a Proud Boys jacket and marching along with other Proud Boys during a Dec. 12 pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. that eventually turned violent.
In a video shared on a personal Facebook account under the name “Mick Florio,” Sobczak describes a beating he says he gave an anti-Trump activist in self defense during an earlier protest in Yorba Linda in Orange County.
The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies the Proud Boys as a hate group, and the Anti-Defamation League describes the organization as a gang.
Sobczak has been removed from his position as dean of the American Legion College as well as a seat on the national board of the American Legion Riders, the organization’s motorcycle club, said Ed Grimsley, the commander of the California American Legion.
“The American Legion has no room for hate in its membership, nor will we silently tolerate hate in any form,” Grimsley said in a statement. “It is no longer about free speech or simple political discourse, rather it morphs into an affront to both Legionnaires and our communities, states and nations.”
Sobczak appears to be linked to two social media accounts — a Facebook account under the name “Mick Florio” and a Parler account under the name “Mickey Knuckles.”
Parler is an alternative social networking app, similar to Twitter, that hosts many political conservatives and some who have been banned from other social media platforms.
The “Mickey Knuckles” Parler account also recently shared a photo of bloodied motorcycle knuckle gloves and a small wooden club with the caption: “My trophy tire thumper from Washington, D.C.. The blood on the gloves isn’t mine.”Sobczak did not deny writing the posts.
“What I do in my private life is private,” Sobczak said.
