No arrests after far-right group members attack protesters outside Manhattan GOP club
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling on the FBI to investigate violence by the far-right group, the "Proud Boys," in Manhattan.
Members of the “Proud Boys,” a far-right group known to align itself with neo-Nazis, violently beat up several protesters after a Republican event in Manhattan Friday night, yet none of the group’s members were arrested, according to Buzzfeed News.
Buzzfeed News said about 30 members of the group, known to describe themselves as “Western chauvinists,” took part in the beating, with some even threatening and screaming slurs at the victims.
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Cuomo calls on the FBI to investigate the "Proud Boys" violence https://t.co/O7mhb1X141
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) October 14, 2018
After multiple inquiries by BuzzFeed News requesting an explanation as to why no arrests were made, the NYPD released a statement saying that it was reviewing video and evidence to determine if additional crimes were committed.
“There is no tolerance for violence anywhere in New York City, and the NYPD will do everything in its power to ensure public safety,” the statement said.
The incident followed a speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, where he reenacted the samurai sword assassination of Japanese socialist leader Inejiro Asanuma, calling it an “inspiring moment.” The club advertised the event on its Facebook page saying, “Banned from Twitter—this Godfather of the Hipster Movement has taken on and exposed the Deep State Socialists and stood up for Western Values,” according to the BuzzFeed News article.
Shay Horse, a 25-year-old photojournalist from Brooklyn who was at the scene, told BuzzFeed News that the incident started after police escorted the Proud Boys out of the building after the event had concluded. McInnes had been escorted out earlier, carrying the samurai sword, and wasn’t present during the melee.
“There was a big group of like 30 of them, and they came out grunting … trying to hype each other up,” Horse told the news outlet. Horse said he saw “two or three bodies on the ground” and the Proud Boys all beating them in a group.
“I heard them screaming and swearing at some guy on the ground,” Horse told BuzzFeed. “They were beating the shit out of him and kicking him in the head. One guy had his foot on the guy’s neck.”
“It was just a pummeling — it wasn’t really a fight, because the three people never really got a chance to even stand up,” Horse told reporters.
When a police officer drove up on a scooter, the crowd dispersed, with no one from The Proud Boys being questioned or arrested.
The New York Times reported that before Friday’s event, the Metropolitan Republican Club’s headquarters was vandalized with anarchist symbols and broken windows and doors. A note was allegedly left attributing the vandalism to McInnes’s upcoming appearance.
The club took to their Facebook page to report the violence. “Last night the Metropolitan Republican Club was vandalized by the leftist hate group Antifa, who also left a note promising ‘this is just the beginning’ and threatening more violence.”
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