The founder of the alt-right hate group Proud Boys has parted ways with the organization a day after the FBI called it an extremist organization with ties to white nationalism.

Gavin McInnes, who is also one of Vice Media’s co-founders but left the company over a decade ago, took to YouTube on Wednesday to announce he’s “officially disassociating” himself from the Proud Boys “in all capacities, forever,” to ease some of the legal stress the group’s members are facing.

“I do this reluctantly because I see it as the greatest fraternal organization in the world but rumors and lies and bad journalism has made it’s[sic] way to the court system and the NYC9… are facing serious charges,” he wrote on the YouTube post, referring to the group’s New York members.

At least six Proud Boys members are facing charges from an Oct. 12 beatdown of a trio of Antifa members who were protesting a speech McInnes was giving at the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan. The members have been slapped with a variety of rioting and gang assault charges.

“I’m told by my legal team and law enforcement that this gesture could help alleviate their sentencing. Fine. At the very least, this will show jurors they are not dealing with a gang and there is no head of operations. We are not an extremist group and we do not have ties with white nationalists,” McInnes wrote.

Internal documents from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Vancouver, Washington — obtained by two watchdog groups — state otherwise.

“The FBI categorizes the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism,” the documents say.

“The FBI has warned local law enforcement agencies that the Proud Boys are actively recruiting in the Pacific Northwest and that some Proud Boy members have contributed to the recent escalation of violence at political rallies held on college campuses, and in cities like Charlottesville, Virginia; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified the organization as a hate group.