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Beatings and scrums broke out on both sides this weekend during clashes between Proud Boys and antifascists, ideologically opposed movements that tolerate political violence while practicing it with some regularity.
The police in New York and Portland are investigating viral videos of the attacks, but have not yet charged any of the two groups. New York's Democratic mayor, governor and Attorney Generalhowever, accused the Proud Boys of having organized the first act of violence of the weekend. (The representatives of the Proud Boys could not be contacted immediately.)
New York, Friday
Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016 as a nationalist men's club, was to speak that night at the Metropolitan Republican Club of "Deep State Socialists" and "Western Values", common themes of his group.
After the speech, about two dozen Proud Boys left the club to find a group of demonstrators of the same size who were waiting to fight him, including antifascists, as shown by videos on a mobile phone. While antifascists, or "antifa" activists, are more organized than hierarchized and uniformed "Proud Boys," both groups see themselves as dangerous to American society and tolerate violence to defend the idea.
"I recognized one of the anti-fascists," McInnes later told HuffPost, recalling the confrontation. "He stole a Proud Boys MAGA hat and was immediately perfected."
Cell phone videos show an unidentified victim twisting on the sidewalk, while several men kick him in turn, and at least a dozen Proud Boys dressed in uniform polos shout various insults.
The video ends as the police rush to break the confrontation.
New York police said the victim refused medical treatment, but spoke to investigators. Three people were accused of aggression. The New York Times, however, reported that all three were affiliated with the anti-fascist group, rather than the Proud Boys, which caused confusion and provoked messages from the most reputable Democrats, calling for a further investigation.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which regards the Proud Boys as an extremist group, wrote that its members were joined at the event by "an ultra-nationalist skinhead crew from the far right", who could also have taken Part in the filmed attack.
Portland, Saturday
The next night, on the other side of the country, members of Proud Boys were reportedly part of a right-wing group that was crossing downtown Portland to join their ideological opponents.
Portland, which has long been the scene of clashes between the far left and the far right, has been consumed for two weeks by Black Lives Matter's protests as a result of a shot deadly committed by the police in September. These protests, in turn, provoked right-wing groups when the video last weekend showing protesters blocking traffic and hitting a passing driver's car had appeared.
So, on Saturday night, a conservative group organized a "Law and Order Light Walk" – towards the downtown square where a memorial had been set up for the police victim, Patrick Kimmons.
"We have security at Proud Boys," said one of the organizers in a Facebook feed of the live march.
As might be expected, the protesters arrived in the square to find it full of counter-partners who chanted "Black Lives Matter". The local anti-fascist group was one of the these live-tweeting on this side of the fourth avenue.
The right-wing protesters paused across the street, waving American flags and repeating – "All Lives Count" and "United States of America" ended up shouting threats.
"Respect the memorial and the eve that are taking place there," said a man with a speaker, as shown in one of the many Facebook Live videos. "But if they cross the street, you have to do what you have to do."
The Portland police apparently expected problems and managed to deter them for about half an hour queuing in tactical gear on the street.
But after sunset, things started.
Antifascists may have provoked violence, according to Mike Bivins, a freelance journalist who documented the scrum that follows on Twitter. One of them burned an american flag as the Proud Boys and the company left, forcing them to return. Another antifascist then sprayed the whole group with pepper spray, writes Bivins.
From there, the scene turned into some kind of exponential version of the Manhattan assault. (Explicit videos below).
While it's hard to tell who's who in cell phone videos, a man came out of a sea of red hats "Make America Great Again" and hit a person from the opposite crowd in the head. Fist fights and fights then began. Some people rushed to the street, banged against windows or collapsed on the sidewalk in a gust of kicks.
A man dressed in a camouflage shirt followed the fray by spraying a liquid into the crowd.
Eventually, an armored police officer approached and fired foam bullets at the sidewalk, which dispersed the fighters.
In a statement sent to the Washington Post on Facebook, a representative of Patriot Prayer, the group that organized the march, said that most of the people in the fray were not members but "people who gathered with us during the walk ".
"The tyranny of social justice and its army of security forces dressed in black and masked is drawing to a close," the statement said.
"The police office is aware that people have been attacked during today's protest," police said in a statement. They did not make any arrests Sunday morning, but, like their New York counterparts, they continued to investigate many copies of amateur films.
The police spotted not only pepper spray in the crowd, but also "gloves, firearms, truncheons and knives," the police wrote, not to mention the flagpoles turned into clubs.
The police did not specify which weapon belonged to which group.
Read more:
Antifa protesters found no fascists at Unite the Right and harassed the press
"Squeal and cluck your hoof!": Watch the leftists face the men of the right Proud Boys in a bar L.A.
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