Hipkins: 'No information' that newly-designated terror groups are in NZ

The Government has quietly designated two United States far-right organisations, the Proud Boys and The Base, as terrorist organisations.

The legal designation of the two groups – signed off by the prime minister – was made on June 20, and made public in the New Zealand Gazette on June 27.

Police Minister Chris Hipkins said both groups posed a “significant threat”, though he had no information suggesting the groups were operating in New Zealand.

"These are white supremacist terrorist groups, and we don't believe, and I don't think New Zealanders believe, that any New Zealander should be enabling and supporting them.”

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The designation means people who recruit for the groups or provide them with material support could be prosecuted under the Terrorism Suppression Act.

The Proud Boys, are a fascist organisation aligned with former US President Donald Trump, were designated a terrorist organisation for their part in an attack of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. The riot at the Capitol has also been called an insurrection or attempted coup.

The Base, a white supremacist, neo-Nazi group, was designated a terrorist organisation for its planned violence to begin a “race war” in the United States. Two members of group were sentenced to nine years in prison in 2021 after they planned to attack a gun rights rally.

Though published on the Gazette, the designation of the two groups was not otherwise announced by the Government. Further details of the designation were only made public by police on Thursday, after this story first published.

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A “statement of case” for the terrorist designation of the Proud Boys, published by police, ran 29 pages and mapped out the group’s history, fascist ideology, and connection with other comparable organisations.

The document also detailed evidence of the group organising its members prior to the attack on the Capitol, and its members’ actions during the attack.

The group’s involvement in the attack was consistent with “the definition of a terrorist act” under New Zealand law, the document said.

”[The Proud Boys] extreme right-wing ideology is founded on racist and fascist principles. APB [American Proud Boys] engaged in the attack on the [Capitol] building for the purpose of obstructing and preventing the proper functioning of democratic government and in opposition to what PB [Proud Boys] perceives as liberalisation and diversification of US society.”

Yuki Iwamura/AP Supporters of former President Donald Trump and members of the far-right group Proud Boys scream at counter protesters during a "Justice for January 6th Vigil" at St Patrick Cathedral in New York.

The US trial of five members of the Proud Boys on seditious conspiracy charges was delayed last week, Associated Press reported, as a congressional committee continued a high-profile series of public hearings into the event.

In the police document, the Proud Boys were described as having unconnected branches in Canada and Australia. Canada designated the Proud Boys a terrorist group in February 2021.

There was no mention of the Proud Boys or The Base having a presence in, or connection to, New Zealand.

The “statement of case” regarding the designation of The Base detailed the organisation’s plans to commit terrorist violence.

“The plan to shoot and kill civilians and police officers at the Virginia gun rights rally is consistent with the definition of a terrorist act,” the document said.

Intelligence Agencies Minister Andrew Little said he would not say what the agencies were doing “operationally”, when asked if other white supremacist groups were being considered for terrorist designation.

“One of the terrorist threats we're dealing with at all times is the white identity extremist violent threat.”

Little previously told Stuff, for its “See No Evil” investigative series about the Christchurch mosque attacks, that the Government did not determine whether groups such as the Proud Boys were terrorist organisations for “outlandish ideology”, but for their “threat of mobilisation to violence”.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in September 2020 designated the Christchurch mosque terrorist, serving a life sentence without parole for his crimes, as a terrorist entity.