Roger Stone endorsed Nick Ochs, the leader of a Hawaii chapter of “western chauvinist” hate group the Proud Boys, in his campaign for a state representative seat. The Proud Boys, whose members have been linked to acts of street violence, often provide security for Stone.

Ochs is the Republican nominee for Hawaii House of Representatives District 22 following his victory in an uncontested primary election. He will face Democrat Adrian Tam during the general election on November 3. According to University of Hawaii at Manoa student newspaper Ho’a O’ahu, Ochs was associated with President Donald Trump’s Hawaii campaign before founding a chapter of the Proud Boys, which has become “one [of] Honolulu’s most reviled conservative organizations.” The paper reported Ochs often posts inflammatory information on social media such as a meme that “features a cartoon Ochs affirming the righteousness of throwing liberals out of a helicopter.”

A YouTube video posted by Ochs on September 19 shows him standing next to Stone, who gives Ochs an endorsement, saying, “He’s a man you can count on."

Stone, a longtime confidant of Trump who recently received clemency from the president following his conviction on seven felony charges, is closely associated with the Proud Boys. The Southern Poverty Law Center designates the organization as a hate group because “rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists.” A contingent of Proud Boys was present at a 2017 “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a neo-Nazi drove a car into a group of counterprotesters, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many others. In October 2019, two Proud Boy members received prison sentences after attacking protesters outside of a Proud Boys event in Manhattan, New York. 

The Daily Beast’s Kelly Weill documented the close ties between Stone and the Proud Boys in a 2019 article, describing the organization as “a neo-fascist group that glorifies violence against opponents, particularly on the left.” Weill reported that Stone has “grown tighter with the violent ultra-nationalist group, hiring them as security and participating in the group’s videos -- even repeating its slogan.”