Amazon blocks the sale of 'Stand Back and Stand By' merchandise as eBay pulls a Proud Boys items including a skullcap from its listings following President Trump's controversial message to the far-right group
Amazon and eBay have pulled items emblazoned with the words 'Stand Back and Stand By', two days after President Trump sparked outrage for delivering the controversial message to far-right group, The Proud Boys.
Angry internet users noticed merchandise featuring the inflammatory phrase was being sold on the e-retailers following the Commander-in-chief's debate with Democrat on Joe Biden on Tuesday night.
While Trump claims he was telling the group to cease acts of violence, members took his words as an expression of encouragement, and quickly got to work creating promotional materials.
On Wednesday night, CNN journalist Konstantin Toropin took to Twitter to share screenshots of 'Stand Back and Stand By' clothing being sold through a third-party vendor on Amazon.
Amazon has pulled items emblazoned with the words 'Stand Back and Stand By', two days after President Trump sparked outrage for delivering the controversial message to far-right group, The Proud Boys. Pictured: two of the items briefly for sale on the e-retailer
While Trump claims he was telling the group to cease acts of violence, members took his words as an expression of encouragement, and quickly got to work creating promotional materials
Internet users were also left outraged after spotting a Jewish yarmulke emblazoned with the initials 'PB' for sale on eBay
'Proud Boy merch featuring the 'Stand Back - Stand By' verbiage is now available on @amazon... Naturally,' Toropin wrote above an image of a $19.99 tank top.
The black garment featured the controversial phrase emblazoned in bright yellow lettering, with the initials 'PB' placed in the center.
An item description stated: 'Are you ready? When the word comes, will stand up for what is right and proper and good?'
Toropin subsequently shared a second image which showed a long-sleeved shirt sold by the same vendor for a price of $22.99.
However, it wasn't just the one business selling 'Stand Back and Stand By' merchandise on Amazon.
Screengrabs collected by Mediaite show at least two other t-shirts that were for sale, including one that featured graphics of automatic weapons.
Members of the Proud Boys are seen at a rally in Portland last weekend
Screengrabs collected by Mediaite show at least two other t-shirts that were for sale, including one that featured graphics of automatic weapons.
Amazon has since pulled all items which feature the wording, saying in a statement: ''All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The products in question have been removed'.
Meanwhile, internet users were left outraged after spotting a Jewish yarmulke emblazoned with the initials 'PB' for sale on eBay.
' Seriously?? A Proud Boys yarmulke on a sponsored post??' an irate user wrote.
It appears the item was deliberately designed to provoke anti-Semitic sentiment, as opposed to be actually worn by Jewish Proud Boys members.
The group has been accused of anti-Semitism, and its founder Gavin McInnes, has previously published a video titled ''10 things I hate about the Jews', according to Forward.
In a posting on Twitter, eBay confirmed that they had pulled the item from sale, saying it violated their policies.
Pictured: One of the Proud Boys t-shirts briefly for sale on Amazon
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal advocacy organization, has designated the all-male Proud Boys as a hate group. The group is known for its violent clashes at political rallies
During Tuesday night's debate, President Trump was asked whether he would disavow white supremacists and if he had a message for the Proud Boys.
'Proud boys, stand back and stand by, but I tell you what, somebody has got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem, this is a left-wing problem,' Trump said when he was challenged to condemn white supremacists during Tuesday's presidential debate.
Trump claimed violence across the country sparked by protests about race relations were a left-wing problem.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal advocacy organization, has designated the all-male Proud Boys as a hate group. The group is known for its violent clashes at political rallies.
WHO ARE THE PROUD BOYS?
Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes started the all-male Proud Boys in 2016. McInnes and the Proud Boys have described the group as a politically incorrect men's club for 'Western chauvinists' and deny affiliations with far-right extremist groups that overtly espouse racist and anti-Semitic views.
The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center designated the Proud Boys as a hate group, saying that its members often spread 'outright bigotry' and 'anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric' over the internet, and have posted social media pictures of themselves with prominent Holocaust deniers, white nationalists and 'known neo-Nazis.'
Current leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, marched in the infamous Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in 2017.
McInnes filed a lawsuit against the SPLC in February, challenging the addition of his organization to a list of hate groups.
Proud Boys have been involved in a series of high-profile violent clashes at political events.
In New York City in October 2018, police arrested several Proud Boys members who brawled with anti-fascist protesters following a speech by McInnes at a Manhattan Republican club.
Proud Boys members also have frequently clashed with counterprotesters at rallies in California and Oregon.