Florida paper under fire for running op-ed from Proud Boys wife defending group

‘This decision fell short of our standards, and we apologize to our readers,’ editor says

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has backtracked after publishing an op-ed by the wife of a member of the Proud Boys, saying that the guest essay “did not meet our standards”.

The column, published on Sunday, defended the alleged association between local candidates for school boards and the far-right extremist group. The guest essay suggested that the members of the group were just “caring parents” who had come under fire for their right-wing opinions.

The paper also neglected to reveal that the writer was married to a member of the group.

Going back years, the Proud Boys have a criminal history that has included instances of violence. Much like the Oath Keepers, several members of the Proud Boys have been charged with felonies in connection to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.

An informant for the FBI has testified to the House Select Committee investigating January 6 that the Proud Boys were planning to occupy federal buildings and were willing to assassinate then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Members of the group have also created chaos around Florida in local Republican politics, such as disputes over the leadership of local organisations run by the party, and some physical altercations.

Melissa Radovich wrote the op-ed Attacking Proud Boys does a disservice to caring school parents, which appears to have been removed from the paper’s website.

The column was a response to another guest essay that was published late last month by Lisa Gialdini Schurr, who argued that candidates running for Sarasota school boards should “show some courage” and “call out the Proud Boys”.

Ms Schurr accused several candidates of being connected to the Proud Boys, and argued that local Republicans should push back on “the toxic rhetoric espoused by the Proud Boys and other hate groups”.

“When I think about the Proud Boys, I think of fathers, business owners and veterans,” Ms Radovich wrote. “These fathers have spoken at many School Board meetings. They are concerned about the direction that their local schools are heading in, and I commend them for coming to School Board meetings.”

She claimed that Ms Schurr attacked the Proud Boys because they’re “opposed to abortion” and because they “stand for America and freedom, and against communist organizations”.

She added that they “believe that discussions of homosexuality are best left to parents, and that this is an issue of parental rights” and that they “stand against medical mandates, such as the illegal mask mandate in Sarasota County”.

Ms Radovich’s column was slammed by Twitter users, and The Sarasota Herald-Tribune was criticised for publishing it. The essay was criticised for downplaying the violent and criminal record of the Proud Boys and that Ms Radovich didn’t mention that her husband is a member of the group, something that Ms Schurr noted and that wasn’t denied by Ms Radovich.

The editorial board of The Sarasota Herald-Tribune identified Ms Radovich as “a mother who lives in the Sarasota County Schools district and … an executive at an area manufacturing education company”.

“The Sarasota Herald-Tribune is running an oped from a nice regular mom who wants you to know the Proud Boys are just a friendly normal group of well-intentioned dads,” Amanda Carpenter, a former senior staffer to GOP Texas Senator Ted Cruz, tweeted.

“An obvious journalism fail from The Sarasota Herald-Tribune and also just gross,” broadcaster Soledad O’Brien added.

“This was published *today.* In a newspaper. And it’s serious!” HuffPost editor Andy Campbell wrote on Sunday.

Former FBI agent Asha Rangappa noted that “Canada and New Zealand have declared the Proud Boys a terrorist organization. So”.

On Monday, Jennifer Orsi, the executive editor of the paper, wrote that publishing the column was wrong.

“A guest column from June 24 had criticized the author of Sunday’s column, and an editor felt it fair to give her a chance to respond. We strive to provide a broad range of views from our community, including opinions in opposition to those of our editorial board,” she said.

“However, the Herald-Tribune opinion page will not provide a forum for support of the Proud Boys, an extremist group that promotes white nationalist views and which has been labeled a terrorist group by two countries and has top members under indictment on charges of seditious conspiracy in the Jan 6 Capitol attack,” Ms Orsi added. “To do so is antithetical to our values as an organization and is outside of our responsibility to provide a fair forum for different points of view.”

She added that “our editorial process failed to keep this column from being published as it appeared, which did not meet our standards”.

Ms Orsi said that the paper is “adding additional, higher level review of the process for accepting and editing guest columns for publication”.

“We will continue to publish varied opinions from across the political spectrum on important local issues. But this decision fell short of our standards, and we apologize to our readers,” she concluded.