Gavin McInnes
Canadian far-right commentator / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gavin Miles McInnes (/məˈkɪnɪs/; born 17 July 1970) is a Canadian writer, podcaster, far-right commentator and founder of the Proud Boys. He is the host of Get Off My Lawn with Gavin McInnes on his website Censored.TV.[1] He co-founded Vice magazine in 1994 at the age of 24 and relocated to the United States in 2001. In 2016 he founded the Proud Boys, an American far-right militant organization[2] which was designated a terrorist group in Canada[3][4] and New Zealand after he left the group.[5] McInnes has been described as promoting violence against political opponents[6][7][8][9][10] but has claimed that he has only supported political violence in self-defense and that he is not far-right or a supporter of fascism, instead identifying as "a fiscal conservative and libertarian".[11]
Gavin McInnes | |
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Born | Gavin Miles McInnes (1970-07-17) 17 July 1970 (age 54) Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England |
Nationality | Canadian |
Education | Carleton University (BA) |
Occupations |
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Known for | |
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Spouse |
Emily Jendrisak (m. 2005) |
Children | 3 |
Website | Censored.TV |
Born to Scottish parents in Hertfordshire, England, McInnes immigrated to Canada as a child. He graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa before moving to Montreal and co-founding Vice with Suroosh Alvi and Shane Smith.[12] He relocated with Vice Media to New York City in 2001.[13][14] During his time at Vice, McInnes was called a leading figure in the New York hipster subculture.[15] He holds both Canadian and British citizenship and lives in Larchmont, New York.[12]
In 2018, McInnes was fired from Blaze Media[16] and was banned from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for violating terms of use related to promoting violent extremist groups and hate speech.[17][18] In June 2020, McInnes's account was suspended from YouTube for violating YouTube's policies concerning hate speech by posting content that was "glorifying [and] inciting violence against another person or group of people."[19]