Far-right extremist link to Texas shooter's 'RWDS' patch
Originally Published 2 years ago — by The Associated Press
The shooter who killed eight people at a Dallas-area mall was wearing a patch that read “RWDS” — short for “Right Wing Death Squad” — a phrase that has been embraced in recent years by far-right extremists who glorify violence against their political enemies. The Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group of self-described “Western chauvinists,” are largely responsible for injecting “RWDS” into the far-right vernacular. The group has sold patches and T-shirts adorned with the acronym and celebrating Pinochet’s death squads.