Forget about the looters, rioters, and anarchists tearing up our great cities in the name of racial justice. The Boogaloo Bois are the activists who should leave you quaking in your shoes. Lock the doors, hunker down — men in Hawaiian shirts are out to foment civil war or something.

Like this guy. Check out the gun, the Don’t-Tread-on-Me flag, and the signature Hawaiian shirt. This Boogaloo Boi is out to bring on the Second Civil War.

Except. . . he’s not out to smash skulls. It’s my husband, holding his prized Walter P-38 (a post war model; he liked the look), standing in front of a Navy Jack flag we bought during the Tea Party days. As for the Hawaiian shirt — he’s a graphic artist, and he proudly wears them as his man style. He has several others, for which he’s received many compliments — nearly all from Millennials.

But the Washington Post, reprinting an article from the UK Independent, says the nation needs to beware of the Boogaloo Bois. They want to start a second Civil War over those pesky stay-at-home orders and threats to gun rights.

Like so many other movements, Boogaloo Bois started on internet sites such as 4chan and Facebook. The name itself comes from the 1984 movie Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, which I never saw, but I’m sure was probably forgettable.

However, gun rights advocates began making memes and jokes — as one does — out of the name, morphing it into “Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo.” This caused groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center to pee their pants:

“Boogaloo Boys” – individuals associated with an online community characterized by calls for civil strife and ownership of firearms and tactical gear – have advocated for an armed revolution online and at public rallies for months.”

But wait! There’s more!

Reece Jones, professor at the University of Hawaii, also sounded the alarm on Twitter:

With growing alarm, I've watched armed white men protesting around the US. But, as a Hawai'i resident, I've wondered specifically about the reoccurring presence of aloha shirts. Here is a THREAD explaining the odd and concerning story behind it 1/13 pic.twitter.com/n7x7DnGf87

— Reece Jones (@reecejhawaii) May 27, 2020

Plus, Robert Evans and Jason Wilson — investigative journalists who smear track the right — want to make you very, very scared of men in Hawaiian shirts who carry guns:

“. . . this is a movement actively preparing for armed confrontation with law enforcement, and anyone else who would restrict their expansive understanding of the right to bear arms. In a divided, destabilized post-coronavirus landscape, they could well contribute to widespread violence in the streets of American cities.”

Yes, “widespread violence in the streets. . .” sounds familiar, right? Like what we’ve been watching on our TVs the past week? Oh, wait, those aren’t Boogaloo Bois. Never mind.

However, blogger Michael Stone makes this bold assertion, yet offers no links for confirmation, at the Progressive Secular Humanist page at Patheos:

“Boogaloo Bois: Setting fires and breaking windows, far right extremists are using the George Floyd protest to foment confusion, animosity against legitimate demonstrators, and ultimately civil war.”

Stone doesn’t confirm this because. . . surprise! There’s no proof. “I have not seen any clear evidence that white supremacists or militiamen are masking up and going out to burn and loot,” admitted a research analyst at the SPLC.

So who are the Boogaloo Bois, really?

Well, maybe we should let one of them explain, don’t you think?

Are you seriously afraid of this doughy guy? Yeah, me neither. Plus, it looks like these groups have been around for a while — at least since 2019. But a bunch of these men who have Big Scary Guns could cause “disaster” at the George Floyd protests, as the Daily Beast predicted. “Right Wing ‘Race War’ Wannabes Could Make Police Protests Go Nuclear.”

But let’s use logic here, shall we? Just who is causing mayhem at the protests? Maybe guys like this?

JUST IN: Feds charge this man, Timothy O’Donnell, with arson, alleging he set fire to a Chicago police SUV during the downtown unrest over the weekend. This is a photo of O’Donnell taken at the scene. He was identified by his neck tattoo reading “PRETTY.” Story coming. pic.twitter.com/48t2EUQ89U

— Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) June 2, 2020

I don’t tremble at the Boogaloo Bois because they’re a group — albeit a quirky one — who want to protect our rights. They’re not out to start the “second civil war,” nor do they embrace violence. Plus, they didn’t cause havoc and loot during the George Floyd protests, nor can the media prove it. But the media desperately want you to believe that somehow, white men who embrace their second amendment rights are the real threat to the country. Besides, it deflects from their infatuation with Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and other anti-American movements which are doing the real damage.

But who are you gonna believe — the media or your lying eyes?

Featured image: Able Ungradable/flickr/CC BY 2.0.