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Here are the biggest takeaways from a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, taken after the final presidential debate. USA TODAY

As protests over police brutality and racial justice broke out this summer, often resulting in harsh responses from law enforcement,police officers across the country have been accused offavoring a violent extremist group that took to the streets to oppose thosedemonstrators.

The latest example of acozy relationship between law enforcement and the far-right Proud Boyshappened in the nation's capital last week when the Metropolitan Police responded to astabbing involving members of the Proud Boys and an associate.

Provocateur Bevelyn Beatty and the chairman of the Proud Boys, who was with her, told police they wereboth stabbed by people associated with Black Lives Matter in a street fight earlythe morning after the presidential election. The Metropolitan Police Departmentrepeated their claim to media outlets, leading toheadlines around the country claiming Black Lives Matter had attackedthe Proud Boys.

There's no evidence Black Lives Matter hadanything to do with the incident. Police officials havesince walked back their initial statements, saying it's unclear whether anyone involved was affiliated with political groups.

The department'swillingness to echothe accusationsof the Proud Boys is anotherexample of law enforcement's deference tothe group, said Michael German, a former FBI special agent who is now a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justices Liberty andNational Security Program.

Million MAGA March: Trump supporters plan rallies in Washington DC, experts warn extremists may attend

More: Who are the Proud Boys? Far-right group has concerned experts for years

Hundreds gather during a Proud Boys rally at Delta Park in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 26. The OK sign is interpreted by some as a symbol of white supremacy.(Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

This group has been involved in all kinds of violent activities, and it seems that law enforcements response to them has been reluctant,German said.That sends a message to far-right groups that their violence is sanctioned by the police.

Meanwhile, law enforcement has clamped down on protests organized by Black Lives Matter and similar groups, he said.

The Proud Boys, which championsa mishmash of prejudicialideas tied to its slogan of "Western chauvinism,"has gotten more attention since itwas mentioned in a presidential debate in September.

Many Proud Boys espouse white supremacist and white nationalist views, though the grouphas some nonwhite members. Members all maleare proud of their tough-guy image.Events promoted by the Proud Boys often end in brawls, and they've been seen attacking people.

'Stand back and stand by': Donald Trump sidesteps call to condemn white supremacists and the Proud Boys were 'extremely excited' about it

The group ramped up its activities this year in responseto the police accountability protests spurred bythe May killing of George Floyd by aMinneapolis police officer. Energized by its leaders' claims that radical leftists were engaged in a"Marxist takeover,"Proud Boys took to the streets to oppose the protestersand arranged their own pro-police and "patriot" marches.

A counterprotester confronts members of the Proud Boys and other right-wing demonstrators during an "End Domestic Terrorism" rally in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 17, 2019.(Photo: Noah Berger, AP)

In September, a group of Proud Boys protesting in Philadelphia was given a police escort, according to The Daily Beast. Video of the rally shows members of the group shaking hands with a police officer.

Philadelphias police commissioner saidthe claimthat the city's police are overly friendly with the Proud Boys is ridiculous.

In Portland, Oregon,police were criticized for allowing Proud Boys to descend on the city for an August rally, wearing body armor and carrying weapons. Last month in Salem, Oregon,police allowed Proud Boys to flout a law against drinking alcohol in public as they carried weapons in a park.

There have been hints of deeper connections between the Proud Boys and law enforcement. Last year, a Connecticut police officer retired after his membership in the organization became known. In 2018, a sheriff's deputy in Washington state was fired for being photographed wearing a Proud Boys sweatshirt.

On Nov. 4, hours after the department's initial statements on the stabbing,Metropolitan PoliceChief Peter Newsham said there was no evidencethe assailants were associated with Black Lives Matter.

At 2:30 in the morning, when our officers are trying to gather information on the scene, that information is preliminary in nature and oftentimes, unfortunately, it changes, Newsham said.

By then, news outlets around the country hadspread theallegation, sparkingoutrage from the local Black Lives Matter chapter.

A video of the altercation, postedto social media, showsmembers of the Proud Boys and Beattyscuffling with unknown individuals.

During the fight, at least two peopleand Beatty were stabbed and taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the police department.

Beatty gained notorietythis year after vandalizing Black Lives Matter murals in New York.

When police officers showed up at the scene of the fight,they quickly loaded members of the Proud Boys into a cruiser and began searching for the suspects, according to Beatty and Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of the Proud Boys. Heclaimedhe was stabbed too.

A motorist holds a homemade anti-Proud Boys sign during an anti-fascist and anti-Trump march Sunday in New York. The march was organized in response to the concurrent MAGA Drag, a car caravan in support of Donald Trump.(Photo: Kevin Hagen/AP)

I got in a cruiser with a police officer because I was trying to identify the suspects, Tarrio said in an interview. We drove up and down the street trying to find them.

German, the former FBI agent,said it's astonishingthat police drove around with Proud Boys after the stabbing. Its poor police procedure, he said. You dont put witnesses in a car and drive around;youre just damaging the case you have.

But aMetropolitan Police spokesman said it's not unusual at all."Identifying all parties involved is part of the investigative process, and it is not uncommon for officers to canvass an area with the victim of a crime, spokesman Dustin Sternbeck wrote in an email.

"Your allegation that we favor any individual during a criminal incident is not accurate and dangerous rhetoric," he wrote.

Donald Trump now insists he doesn't know who the Proud Boys are. "Whoever they are, they have to stand down. Let law enforcement do their work." Trumps' changed tone comes after he refused to condemn the white supremacist group. (Sept. 30) AP Domestic

Some of the news outlets that reportedBlack Lives Matter was implicated in the stabbing have deletedor rewritten those stories. But headlines across the countryportrayed itas a clash between far-right and far-left extremist groups.

In the tense hours after the polls closed, when the winner of the presidential electionwas not yet known, thats exactly the sort of unfounded claim that could have sparked larger clashes, said J.J. MacNab, a fellow at George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism.

When you have two sides itching for violence, you have to be really careful.

Its inflammatory and thats a problem, MacNab said. When you have two sides itching for violence, you have to be really careful.

Tarrio and other Proud Boys have long sought to portray the group as friendly with law enforcement. In an interview, he boasted about his close ties to the police, saying it's only natural thatpolice officers communicate with the group.

Were not screaming, What do we want? Dead pigs! at protests," he said."Theres no conspiracy here. Were open to working with law enforcement, whereas the other side wants to kill police.

German said the cozyrelationship between the Proud Boys and the police spells trouble for future clashes.

"There's still a perception among law enforcement that this is a friendly group," he said. "That just means even more violent people will be attracted to engagein these protests, and that will end badly."

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How police handled a DC stabbing is yet another sign of how law enforcement favors extremist group Proud Boys - USA TODAY