Proud Patriot Sign Rip FAIL

About

Proud Patriot Sign Rip FAIL refers to a viral video of a man failing to rip the sign of an activist at May Day event.

Origin

On May 1st, 2018, YouTuber ^[1] Nate Gowdy uploaded a video entitled "Man Gets Schooled By Anti-Fascism Sign." The post (shown below) features a man in a shirt that reads "Proud Patriot" trying and failing to rip the sign of an opposing activist. Within three days, the post received more than 389,000 views.

Spread

That day, Gowdy also posted the video on Facebook, ^[3] where it received more than 6,200 reactions, 11,000 shares and 290 comments in three days.

The following day, the video was shared by Twitter ^[2] user @AshAgony. The post received more than 25,000 retweets, 77,000 likes and 2.5 million views in two days.

That day, @AshAgony shared a Facebook post by the man who failed to rip the sign.^[2] The post reads, "At first I was angered, then i realized this guy has nothing better to do than film me destroying a sign. LOL thank you to 91,000 people for wasting your time watching some random guy try to rip a polyester sign. And FYI I'm not a Proud Boy, you dumb ass!" @AshAgony commented "Guys, he's soooo totally not mad about all these people laughing at him. In fact, he thinks we're all stupid for watching the video. And he's not a Proud Boy either! So the joke's on us!" The post (shown below, left) received more than 920 retweets and 8,400 likes in two days.

That day, Twitter^[4] user @fxshea62 posted an image from the man's Facebook that shows the man performing pushups ahead of the event where he failed to rip the sign. The post says, "Working out in preparation for May 1st. Day 1. "AntiFa: I hope you're watching!" The post (shown below, right) received more than 130 retweets and 870 likes in two days.

That day, video editor and comedian Vic Berger re-edited the video to contain clips of the founder of the far-right conservative group the Proud Boys Gavin McInnes using racial epithets and Nazi salutes on his radio show. Berger captioned the tweet^[5] "The end of the Proud Boys." However, the man in the video has denied being a member of the group. The post (shown below) received more than 100 retweets and 600 likes in two days.

Additionally, Redditor ^[10] PhysicsIsMyMistress posted the video on the /r/PublicFreakout subreddit. The post received more than 2,900 points (88% upvoted) and 730 comments in two days.

On May 3rd, the late-night comedy television show Desus & Mero aired the clip and mocked the man for attempting to rip the sign. The post (shown below) received more than 37,000 views in 24 hours.

On May 4th, Facebook^[6] user timmyhammond posted a four-pane image of the man ripping the sign and the Simpsons-character Mr. Burns attempting crush a paper cup in the Simpsons Shitposting Facebook group. The post (shown below) received more that 590 reactions and 15 shares in 24 hours.

Several media outlets covered the popularity of the video, including Vice, ^[7] Daily Kos,^[8] Newsweek^[9] and more.

Search Interest

External References