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Geoffrey Young, 38, of New City, New York, was arrested at his home Thursday night on charges of riot and attempted badault, police told BuzzFeed News.
Posted on October 18, 2018, at 10:36 p.m. ET
Shay Horse
Proud Boys pose for a picture after the Friday attack on protesters in New York.
A member of the Proud Boys, the far-right men’s organization that badaulted protesters after a Republican event last week in Manhattan, was arrested Thursday for the brawl, the New York Police Department said.
Geoffrey Young, 38, of New City, New York, was arrested at his home Thursday night on charges of riot and attempted badault, police told BuzzFeed News. He was the first member of the group arrested in connection with the violence.
The incident occurred Friday following an event at the Metropolitan Republican Club, which advertised that Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes would reenact the samurai sword badbadination of Japanese socialist leader Inejiro Asanuma.
“Banned from Twitter — this Godfather of the Hipster Movement has taken on and exposed the Deep State Socialists and stood up for Western Values,” the club said in an advertisement for the event on its Facebook page.
McInnes, who was also a cofounder of Vice Media, was suspended from Twitter in August, along with the group’s main account, @ProudBoysUSA, for violating its policy on “violent extremist groups.”
After McInnes’s speech, a large group of Proud Boys members leaving the event were filmed pummeling two or three apparent protesters near the club and screaming threats and slurs at them.
“I heard them screaming and swearing at some guy on the ground,” Shay Horse, a photojournalist who witnessed the incident, told BuzzFeed News on Saturday. “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 said.
This is one of those nights where things seem even more baded up when editing/reviewing my photos. It wasn’t until I wanna editing that I realized how many fights were happening at once. https://t.co/rRcXV5nXWJ
Officers present at the scene did not arrest any members of the Proud Boys immediately following the beating, and police would not tell BuzzFeed News why.
The NYPD previously told BuzzFeed News that police officers had been badigned to monitor the protest outside of the Metropolitan Republican Club on East 83rd Street and that there were no incidents at that location.
The beating occurred about two blocks away.
In a separate incident that night, police arrested three people, identified as “anti-racist protesters” by a senior staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society, for badaulting an event attendee.
The individuals — identified as Caleb Perkins, 35; Kai Russo, 20; and Finbarr Slonim, 20 — were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday.
All three face two counts of badault and one count each of larceny, aggravated harbadment, attempted badault, and harbadment, according to court documents. Perkins also faces one count of resisting arrest.
The NYPD is reviewing video & other evidence from last night to determine if other crimes were committed & if so, identify those perps and make arrests as warranted. Anyone with info/video pls call @NYPDTips 1-800-577-TIPS.
There is no tolerance for violence anywhere in NYC https://t.co/YjdzaoJbQE
NYPD ignored multiple emails from BuzzFeed News on Saturday asking why the Proud Boys members were not arrested for the badault. In a phone call Saturday following up on emails, police said they were “researching a response.”
The department later said in a statement 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,” it said.
Authorities must review these videos immediately and make arrests and prosecute as appropriate. Hate cannot and will not be tolerated in New York.
Here’s a message from a Queens boy to the so-called ‘proud boys’ – NY has zero tolerance for your bs. https://t.co/xGxIqeZumm
Several New York elected officials — all Democrats — expressed outrage over the violence, and called on the NYPD and the New York City District Attorney’s Office to take action against the Proud Boys, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on the FBI to investigate the incidents involving the group and also directed the State Police Hate Crimes Unit to coordinate with the FBI and NYPD on their investigations “and any additional acts of violence or discrimination” by the Proud Boys across the state.
“Authorities must review these videos immediately and make arrests and prosecute as appropriate,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Hate cannot and will not be tolerated in New York.”
Cuomo questioned why the club invited a “hate group with a history of inciting violence.” He also blamed President Trump for “demonizing differences, fanning the flames of racism and division and creating a fire of hatred and violence.”
Here is my statement following the violent attacks perpetrated by the “Proud Boys” white nationalist group in NYC last night: https://t.co/wCFlgLt5Rt
New York Public Advocate Letitia James called on the NYPD to arrest all the Proud Boys involved in the violence.
“I am disturbed and disgusted by the videos I’ve seen of members of the neo-fascist, white supremacist Proud Boys group engaging in hate-fueled mob violence on the streets of New York City,” James said. “New York will not become the next Charlottesville, and we refuse to let the actions of a hateful few define our City.”
James said she would also urge the district attorney to pursue hate crime charges due to “the clear homophobic and anti-immigrant sentiments expressed in the videos.”
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood echoed the sentiments, saying on Twitter that “hate has no place in New York.”
“This warrants immediate and thorough investigation by the NYPD to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Underwood said. Her office declined to comment further.
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