Eva Marie Uzcategui Trinkl/Anadolu Agency via Getty
- Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio told The Wall Street Journal about the group's financial problems.
- Tarrio said he has struggled to make money as card processors keep refusing to work with his group.
- He said he found a loophole by starting a secret business to sell political T-shirts to liberals.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Protesters at Black Lives Matter and anti-Trump demonstrations could be wearing T-shirts from an unlikely source: the Proud Boys.
The far-right group's leader, Enrique Tarrio, told The Wall Street Journal in a report published Wednesday that he set up a secret business to sell T-shirts with liberal slogans after card-processing companies kept refusing to work with his other businesses.
As the Proud Boys gained infamy for taking part in the Capitol riot and other controversial gatherings such as the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally, banks and card-processing services have taken a stance against the group, making it hard for them to make money.
Tarrio wouldn't share the name of his new business, and The Journal said it was not able to independently verify its existence. Insider has contacted Tarrio for comment.
Tarrio told The Journal that his secret business sells T-shirts with slogans like "Black Lives Matter" and "Impeach 45," a reference to former President Donald Trump.
A reporter for The Journal witnessed Tarrio's assistant printing a shirt that said "Black Lives Matter" during a visit to Tarrio's Miami headquarters.
The Proud Boys operate an online shop called 1776.shop which sells merchandise with a conservative bent.
But Tarrio said that the website was effectively out of commission for months this year because they couldn't find a card processing company to work with them, and allow them to process credit card and debit card payments, according to The Journal.
Tarrio told The Journal that PayPal, Stripe, and a dozen credit-card processors had barred him from their platforms.
He said he got the idea of starting the secret liberal T-shirt company after one card processor stopped working with his business for selling a T-shirt that called one Democratic politician a Communist and an idiot, saying it was "hate propaganda." The Journal did not specify which Democrat the T-shirt referred to.
Tarrio said he's found a card processor to work with him for the time being, but doesn't believe it will last long, so he's working to start his own card processing company, according to The Journal.
Multiple Proud Boys chapters have distanced themselves from Tarrio and the national organization after it was revealed recently that Tarrio once worked as an FBI informant. Tarrio confirmed to The Journal that he was an informant, but said it was a long time ago.
The Proud Boys appeared to splinter after the Capitol riot, particularly after Tarrio was found to be an FBI informant. Audio transcripts released in a Tuesday court filing showed Proud Boys members squabbling and panicking when members started getting arrested after the Capitol riot
