Sacramento GOP expels Proud Boys member from post he won last March

Sacramento County Republican officials formally expelled Proud Boys member Jeffrey Perrine as a member of the party’s central committee Wednesday night, saying his views are “categorically inconsistent with the values of the Republican Party.”

The move, which came in a Zoom meeting open only to committee members and associates, comes three weeks after The Sacramento Bee disclosed Perrine had won a seat on the committee.

Party Chairwoman Betsy Mahan initially said Perrine could remain in his unpaid post and that she did not know Perrine was still affiliated with the far-right group, which has had members charged in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and been called a hate group.

But after The Bee story, Mahan and committee members emailed Perrine and demanded he resign or be expelled.

Perrine, in a telephone interview before the vote, told The Bee that he would not resign and accused the party of concocting a new bylaw calling for members to “support civil discourse” and discourage “engagement in intimidation and violence to advance any cause.”

“It’s a total, just, leftist appeasing attempt of a bylaw,” he said. “They’re going to railroad me out the backdoor, and it’s not even the full executive committee.

“I’m an elected official. You would think if you’re impeaching someone people ought to be able to see it.”

The party says Perrine won his seat in March when he ran for the post, which advances voter registration and other GOP outreach, and had yet to be sworn in.

“Under state law, any member of a political party may run for Central Committee,” the party said in a statement issued Wednesday night. “In Mr. Perrine’s race, there were equal amounts of candidates and seats available, so a vote did not take place and he was not on the March 2020 ballot.”

Mahan said in a statement that the committee “took this action very seriously.”

“We had to give consideration to the impact of Mr. Perrine’s behavior on our Party during a volatile time in our country’s history,” she said in a statement.

Micah Grant, the county party treasurer and a Natomas Unified School District trustee, made the motion to remove Perrine.

“Mr. Perrine’s beliefs, actions, and public statements are woefully out of touch with true conservative values and were a slap in the face to Republicans everywhere who are deeply embedded in their communities,” Grant said in a statement. “I’m proud the committee took the necessary action to remove this individual.”

The party’s stance has evolved since its initial defense of Perrine’s right to hold the seat, and as Proud Boys members have been linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The group has attracted more scrutiny following then-President Trump’s statement at a debate last fall he would urge them to “stand back and stand by.”

Canada labeled the group a terrorist organization on Feb. 3.

Perrine was a nationally known member of the group who appeared in a viral video during a protest in Portland in 2018, where he used a bullhorn to proclaim “all the illegals trying to jump over our border, we should be smashing their heads into the concrete.”

Perrine has told The Bee that he disavows much of his past activity and violence, and insisted he has no racist tendencies. He also said the expulsion would lead to him working against the GOP.

“I’m a member of the Proud Boys. I’m not with the KKK, man,” he said last month.