BANGOR, Maine — The owner of a Bangor furniture store insisted Monday that a post on Facebook seeking someone to make 'Proud Boys' sweatshirts in advance of rallies by several pro-Trump organizations in Washington, D.C. this week does not mean she is racist.
"There's no craft fairs going on due to COVID, so we were trying to help the crafters, so we set up a place for 150 of them to come into our store, install their product during COVID," Kathy Harvey said. "Recently we had people who wanted BLM shirts...some people who wanted some things with the Antifa logo...we don't tell people...their political views are theirs and we respect all views."
Kathy Harvey, who owns Furniture, Mattresses & More in the Bangor Mall, said she posted the request on behalf of a few customers who requested them before their trip to D.C. She did acknowledge that her children plan to attend pro-Trump protests in the nation's capital on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We had four or five customers that were going to the Washington DC event, and they come in and they wanted some sweatshirts that had the Proud Boys on them or the PB on them," Harvey said.
Harvey uses a Crafter's Facebook page to find people to meet the requests of her customers. This weekend, the request for 'Proud Boys' clothing sparked controversy. 'Proud Boys' is a far-right political group known to engage in heated public confrontation. Harvey said she does not represent or support the group and decided to cancel all requests having to do with politics from now on.
"And we just put a halt to it thinking 'ok if they don't like that,' we are not here to offend anyone so we shut it all down, but that's not good enough, now they want to destroy, now they are thinking you worship this group, you love this group, I don't even know this group... so it's very unfair. If I'd known what people are saying this group is, would I have posted it? No! I put it out there for everybody to see cause some people wanted it," Harvey tells NEWS CENTER Maine.
Michael Alpert is the greater Bangor area's NAACP president. "They [Proud Boys] are a violent disgusting racist unamerican group of thugs and they are really against all American values," Alpert said. "This is a pivotal time, we need to collectively educate, people have been confused recently."
"They've totally educated me now, but you know...that's a dollar late," Harvey said.
Like with any other order, Harvey said she simply shared the request on a Bangor crafters' Facebook page she manages. "I'm not a racist person, I'm not a one-sided person, I'm open-minded to all views, always have been," Harvey said.
But the 'Proud Boys' request didn't sit well at all with some of the crafters who sold their merchandise at the store. "I think it is important that when we see (even passively) comments like the one I witnessed earlier, to be firm and clear on our lack of support and to speak up, so I opted to remove my items from their shop," said part of the Facebook post by Red Sunset Ceramics.
"If I knew the way people felt about that would I have put that out there to get shoot up like this? Never," Harvey said.
Harvey said her business always helps out the community. "We bless 1,800 kids every Christmas, we host free craft fairs, we donate mattresses to the homeless, we do everything we can for our community," she adds.
President Donald Trump has urged supporters to come to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the day Congress certifies the Electoral College votes and the results of the presidential election -- results he disputes.
Trump tweeted on Sunday that he planned to attend the protests, planned at the Washington Monument. Freedom Plaza and the U.S. Capitol.
The 'Proud Boys' were mentioned by name by Trump during the September 29, 2020, presidential debate, when he was asked by moderator Chris Wallace whether he would condemn white supremacists and militia groups.
"Proud Boys, stand back and stand by," Trump said -- a comment Vice President-elect Kamala Harris described at the time was "a dog whistle through a bullhorn."
The Proud Boys is a white nationalist organization established during the 2016 presidential election that describes itself as "western chauvinists," and denies connection to racist "alt-right, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Democrat, has asked city residents to avoid the downtown area Tuesday and Wednesday and "not to engage with demonstrators who come to our city seeking confrontation," the Washington Post reported. Bowser said that openly carrying firearms is illegal in the nation's capital and a concealed-carry permit from another state does not apply there.
Violence erupted during pro-Trump rallies in November and December when groups including the 'Proud Boys' descended on the capitol to protest the election.