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A brawl in front of a Republican club in Manhattan, involving a far-right group and anti-fascist activists, prompted an investigation into the violence and whether the police had acted appropriately. Some Democratic politicians, including Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, have also criticized the club for inviting the leader of the far right group, the Proud Boys.
Cuomo on Sunday urged the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the incident and tasked a state police hate crime unit with investigating violence between the New York Police Department and President Trump.
"It's Trump at its worst," said the governor during a phone call to the press. "This fits perfectly with everything he's done since he's started running for president."
He added, "Once you unleash hatred and division and demonize differences, you lose control. You can not target it. He lights a match in a field of dry grass. The wind takes it and it takes off.
Cuomo and other Democratic politicians criticized the Republican Party leaders for inviting Gavin McInnes, a provocateur who founded the Proud Boys, to speak at the club on Friday night, where he reconstructed the murder of 39, an assassination. socialist. At least two fights broke out as Mr. McInnes left the room. Police arrested three people and accused them of assaulting a 30-year-old man.
[[[[Learn more about clashes and arrests.]
Mr. McInnes' group, the Proud Boys, is a self-proclaimed chauvinist fraternity, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has described as a hate group. Cuomo described Republicans' invitation to McInnes as "despicable" political tactics aimed at revitalizing their base for the mid-term elections.
Ed Cox, president of the Republican Party, said Democrats, including the governor, were trying to turn violence into a political opportunity, although they did not speak immediately after vandals had club at 2am on Friday, in front of Mr. McInnes's visit. The vandals, dressed in black, wearing bomb-proof anti-fascist graffiti on the doors, glued locks and threw bricks through windows before escaping into the night, police and Mr. Cox said.
"The governor does not condemn him, the governor says nothing," Cox said. "But when there is violence, he will say that everything is the fault of Donald Trump. What kind of governor is this?
The chaos outside the 83rd Street Club epitomized tensions between far-right groups and anti-fascist protesters in violent scenarios across the United States. Last year, a woman died after a motorist passed through a crowd of counter-partners at the White Unite rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Cuomo said the violence surrounding Mr. McInnes' appearance was predictable. But Mr Cox said the provocateur spoke to the club last year without incident. The club began receiving threats several days before Mr. McInnes appeared on Friday and reported them to the local police station, Cox said.
The members and associates of the Proud Boys have been involved in violence since its creation. One day after the fight in Manhattan, members took part in a march in Portland that ended with clashes with anti-fascist counter-publishers.
The band, which takes its name from a showpiece in the Disney musical "Aladdin", claimed to be anti-racist, but it attracts members of white supremacist groups. Mr. McInnes mentioned the presence of white supremacists refusing to participate in the Unite the Right rally. but members of the Proud Boys attended the rally a year ago in Charlottesville and a known collaborator was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison for his role in a collective assault on a counter-prosecutor.
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