Five New York Proud Boys Charged Over Confrontation with Antifa
Five New York Proud Boys have been charged over the physical confrontation the western fraternal organisation had with Antifa on the night of Friday 12th October. The Proud Boys in New York had been attending a speaking event by their founder Gavin McInnes at the New York Metropolitan Republican Club.
Antifa members had been protesting outside the event and attacked three Proud Boys after the event despite the fact they left under police escort. The Proud Boys fought back, the confrontation lasted several seconds before the other Proud Boys who rushed over to defend their brothers told them to stop after it was clear the threat had passed.
What followed from the US mainstream media was that “skinheads” and “white nationalists” had engaged in a “brutal beating” and “hate crime” against peaceful anti fascist protestors. While media lies against the Proud Boys who reject the “alt-right” and white nationalist label is nothing new what took this incident to a new level were directives from local Democrat politicians to have the Proud Boys involved charged.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the Proud Boys a group “a violent male chauvinist hate group”. New York City Councilman Rory Lancman said it was “revolting” for “none of them to be arrested or prosecuted”. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio then announced that “The NYPD is fully investigating last night’s attack involving the Proud Boys”. Following this political interference the NYPD stated they were trying to identify nine Proud Boys members and three black-clad counter-protesters.
First Proud Boy Geoffrey Young, 38 was taken into custody last Thursday night charged with misdemeanor riot and attempted assault. Then John Kinsman, 39 was arrested on Friday afternoon and charged with riot, attempted gang assault and possession of a weapon. Both were later released on bail.
Following these arrests and charges Gavin McInnes told the media he was arranging the surrender of the other Proud Boys under investigation. On Monday NYPD arrested Irvin Antillon, 41, and Douglas Lennan, 40 on charges of riot and assault, the NYPD said Monday and Maxwell Hare, 26, on charges with gang assault, assault, riot and criminal possession of a weapon.
Despite the politically charged nature of the investigation the NYPD are still governed by the federal consent decree the Handschu agreement which regulates police behavior in New York City with regard to political activity. It was brought in after a class action lawsuit by members of the Black Panther Party following a failed 1971 trial of 21 members on conspiracy to terrorism charges.
Gavin McInnes is set to tour Australia at the beginning of November being hosted by Penthouse Australia, Australia’s mainstream media are using the events in New York to question whether McInnes should granted a visa given the alleged violent nature of the Proud Boys.
Jason Wilson of the Guardian said the fact that McInnes “leads a violent street gang should prick some consciences in the Australian government, who seem happy to renounce visas to anyone they deem problematic”. He then goes onto list all the times the Proud Boys have been involved in a public confrontation with Antifa as proof of his thesis, never mentioning that the Proud Boys only act and are only told to act in self-defence.
Today Rick Morton the Social Affairs Reporter of the Australia called McInnes the “founder of an alt-right street-fighter group who advocates violence against women and pledges to “assassinate” his enemies” then going on to say “Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton yesterday refused to comment on whether he would block the entry of Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes”.
The assassination Morton is referring to is McInnes’ mock reenactment of the assassination of Japanese socialist Inejiro Asanuma by ultranationalist Otoya Yamaguchi during his New York talk. The photo Morton has chosen for his story is of McInnes drawing the plastic sword he used in the reenactment when Antifa belted buckets of urine at his car after the event, it is not stated in the story the sword is plastic. Morton appears not like right-wing groups very much as just last week he called the True Blue Crew a neo-Nazi group.
The left and the media both in the United States in Australia believe the New York confrontation is the opportunity they’ve been waiting for to take down the Proud Boys and spread their own misinformation about the group. Their narrative will depend on how the charges against these five Proud Boys, with the police investigation agitated for by local Democrat politicians stick once tested in court.