A Proud Boys billboard erected in the downstate Illinois town of Breese—a historically known sundown town—was taken down Tuesday, August 26, after a local church purchased the ad space to combat racism.
The sign’s removal may signal changing times in Breese, a predominantly white town long known for being unwelcoming to Black residents.
Last week, the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group with reported white supremacist ties and a hate group designation by the Southern Poverty Law Center, placed an ad on a prominent billboard near Old U.S. Route 50 and St. Rose Road—roughly 1,000 feet from Central Community High School. The billboard featured the group’s logo, a local phone number connected to a voicemail box, and the slogan: “Faith, Family, Freedom, Brotherhood.”
The sign was viewed by many as a recruitment tool targeting young males, a demographic the Proud Boys have courted since their rise in 2016.
The billboard was removed after the United Methodist Church secured the space for $2,100 over four months. The new sign will display a simple but pointed message: “Hate Divides, Love Unites.”
“It’s part of our ministry,” said Paul Black, director of communication ministries for the Springfield-based Illinois Great Rivers Conference, which represents 650 United Methodist congregations and about 100,000 members across central and southern Illinois. “One of the focuses for the denomination is eradicating racism, and when you read about this group, there’s no doubt there’s cause for concern.”
According to Capital News Illinois, Lamar Advertising, which manages the billboard, declined to identify who purchased the Proud Boys ad. However, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the group’s Peoria-based River City chapter “claimed responsibility for the billboard” after years of dormancy.
Lamar removed the ad shortly after a Clinton County Board meeting where dozens of residents spoke out against the message. The board unanimously passed a non-binding resolution denouncing hate.
Bucky Miller of Aviston, who helped organize the community response, said he was relieved to hear the Methodist Church would take over the sign. He and his wife, Laura Thoman, have two young children and were especially disturbed by the ad’s proximity to a school.
The new message, he said, “embodies what our community and Clinton County as a whole is all about.”
Black said the design comes from a campaign originally launched by the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church, which created similar signs in response to a Confederate flag flying along a busy road near the Lake of the Ozarks. The campaign has since spread to other states, including Ohio and North Carolina, where local communities have reported extremist activity.
Kim Jenne, director of connectional ministries for the Missouri Conference, said the “Hate Divides, Love Unites” campaign continues to grow. However, she was unaware of any other Proud Boys billboards prompting its use.
According to U.S. Census data, less than 1 percent of Breese’s 4,373 residents are Black. The History and Social Justice database shows that from 1960 to 2010, the town had no more than 10 Black residents. That number grew to 30 by 2020, reflecting a slow demographic shift.
Located in Clinton County, Breese voters overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, with about 75 percent of roughly 20,000 voters casting ballots for the Republican candidate, according to an analysis by Politico.
The online travel guide Green Book Global lists Breese among dozens of known sundown towns in Illinois—communities historically hostile to Black residents. These towns were notorious for violent events or discriminatory practices that discouraged Black residents from remaining in the area after dark.
The Proud Boys played a central role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. James Robert “Jim Bob” Elliott of Aurora was one of several members investigated by federal authorities. Although some members were convicted, several—including former national chairman Enrique Tarrio—were later pardoned by Donald Trump earlier this year.
In Illinois, the group has three verified chapters in Chicago, Crystal Lake, and Peoria. In Chicago, Officer Robert Bakker remains on the police force after a 2022 internal investigation revealed his past ties to the Proud Boys. He was suspended for four months but not removed from the department.
According to FBI data, there were 85 hate crimes reported in Illinois in 2020. By 2025, that number had risen to 381.
This story included information from Capital News Illinois.