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Members of the pro-Trump far right group called the Proud Boys fought with the protesters Friday night in New York after the group's founder, Gavin McInnes, spoke to a nearby Republican club. The men appear in the video shouting insults and curses while kicking at several anti-fascist demonstrators who were lying on the sidewalk.
In a statement, the NYPD said three people had been arrested after an assault on the Upper East Side of Manhattan near the Metropolitan Republican Club. The New York police said it was watching the event and the outside demonstrations were peaceful when they saw an ongoing assault.
New York police said it was unclear whether the three arrested men belonged to either group, and added that the department was reviewing the video and making further arrests "according to the needs".
It is not clear if the arrests were related to the filmed fight, as there did not seem to be any arrest in the images posted by the video reporter Sandi Bachom. The NYPD said it was reviewing videos and additional evidence from the scene to determine if any other crimes had been committed.
Right-wing provocateur and deputy co-founder Gavin McInnes (C) pumps his fist at a rally at Martin Luther King Park Jr. Civic Center Park on April 27, 2017 in Berkeley, California. Protesters gathered in Berkeley to protest the cancellation of the speech of conservative US political commentator Ann Coulter at UC Berkeley.
Elijah New Zealand / Getty Images
Journalist Shay horse told BuzzFeed News that members of the Proud Boys had declared that the fight had begun when one of the protesters allegedly hit one of their hats "Make America Great Again". The horse has described it as "a hype."
"It was not really a fight, because the three people never really had a chance to get up," he said.
New York City Public Attorney Letitia James called for additional arrests related to the scrum and encouraged Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance to prosecute hate crimes, reports CBS New York.
Other New York legislators, including New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Barbara Underwood, have condemned the attack.
"The authorities must immediately watch these videos, make arrests and prosecute, and hatred can not and will not be tolerated in New York," Cuomo said in a statement. Here is a message from a Queen's boy to what is called "proud boys" – New York has a zero tolerance for your BS. "
McInnes, the event 's speaker, was seen on a video uploading a sword while he was leaving the event and getting into a car. Fox News showed a video clip of McInnes holding the sword in front of the protesters, but wrote in a tweet that "Antifa strikes again – swords and vandalism at the GOP office in New York."
Proud Boys describes itself as a "pro-Western fraternal organization" that often wears Trump clothing for their events, though they claim that it's not necessary to be pro-trump . The Southern Poverty Law Center has stated that the Proud Boys and their leaders "regularly broadcast white nationalist memes and maintain links with known extremists".
McInnes, co-founder of Vice Media in 2008 and who left the company in 2008, created the Proud Boys in 2016. On the page of the Metropolitan Republican Club's Facebook event, McInnes is described as the "rebel of the right "and" banished from Twitter – this godfather of the Hipster movement has made the point of assimilating deep state socialists and defending Western values. "
On McInnes's Instagram page, he said that he was going to restore the assassination of the leader of the Japanese Socialist Party by Otoya Yamaguchi using a samurai sword during the event.
The building where the event was held Friday is the seat of the Republic of New York State and Manhattan Republicans, according to CBS New York.
In anticipation of Friday's event, anarchist symbols were etched on the door, locks were stuck and a keypad access system was damaged, reports CBS New York. A note was also left on the scene before the alleged vandals fled.
"Tonight, we put the Republican Party in default, in defiance of the policy of misery that they defended," reads the message. He goes on to say that the US government has created "concentration camps for Latin Americans across the country" and "unscrupulously murder blacks".
The memo also calls the Democrats "spotless partners in crime" Republicans. "Our attack is only a beginning, we are not passive, we are not civilians and we will not apologize," the message reads.
New York Republican Party President Ed Cox called the vandalism "of political violence" blamed on CBS New York Friday before the event. He has not commented on Friday night's scrum.
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