Doug Mastriano Supporters Seen Carrying Three Percenters Flag During Glenside Parade

Editor's Note: A photo of the flag in question has been added to this story. It was originally left out.

GLENSIDE, PA — Supporters of Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano were seen carrying a flag belonging to the Three Percenters right-wing movement during the Glenside Fourth of July parade in Montgomery County this past weekend, according to Mastriano's political opponent.

The campaign of Josh Shapiro, the current Pennsylvania attorney general who is the Democratic candidate for governor, released a photo showing Mastriano's supporters waving a Three Percenters flag during the Monday parade, which is known as one of the largest Independence Day parades in the state.

"For Mastriano to bring these extremists into Pennsylvania communities sends a dangerous message about his values and agenda — he is clearly out of touch with what Pennsylvania families need right now," reads a statement from the Shapiro campaign.

The Three Percenters is a militia group aligned with right-wing ideologies that has been labeled an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The name of the anti-government group, founded in 2008, is derived from the belief that only three percent of American colonists took up arms against the British during the American Revolution.

Shapiro's campaign noted that the Three Percenters played a part in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building.

The campaign chastised Mastriano supporters for displaying the Three Percenters flag at the July 4th parade in Glenside.

"Doug Mastriano and his campaign are spreading the same kind of dangerous lies and conspiracy theories that have led to violence and killings across our country," Shapiro campaign spokesman Will Simons said in a statement. "Mastriano is too divisive and extreme to be Governor — and the hatred he spreads has no place in Pennsylvania communities."

Mastriano is a Republican state senator from Franklin County who is a retired U.S. Army colonel.

While some of his views regarding reproduction rights have made the headlines recently — he reportedly opposes abortion in virtually all cases — he was actually in the news in prior years because of his claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Mastriano, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, led calls in Pennsylvania for a so-called "audit" of the election results.

Mastriano was also a critic of the COVID-19 business shutdowns in Pennsylvania ordered by Gov. Tom Wolf during the height of the pandemic.