Newly released video footage appears to show members of the far-right group The Proud Boys charging and fighting a group of protesters on a New York City street in October — and not the other way around, as the group had previously claimed.
On Oct. 12, a brawl broke out between The Proud Boys, which has been labelled as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and protesters outside the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan. Proud Boys founder, Gavin McInnes, was delivering a speech that night.
Since the brawl, 10 members of the Proud Boys have been arrested in connection with the violence, and charged with riot and attempted assault, according to the New York Times. At least three protesters were also charged.
McInnes had blamed anti-fascist protesters, or Anifi, for the fight that broke out, saying members of the group were provoked when one of the protesters threw a water bottle.
But newly released footage obtained and released by the New York Times on Sunday, appears to show members of the group running toward the counterprotesters. One of the counterprotesters then attempted to throw a water bottle at one of the Proud Boys but missed.
WATCH: Police release footage of alleged assault in New York involving members of Proud Boys group
In the video, you can hear someone yelling: “Proud Boys! You ready? Proud Boys!” right before the group charges the protesters.
Get daily National news
Several recordings then captured members of the group punching and kicking the activists.
According to the New York Times, prosecutors said the video evidence will prove that the Proud Boys started the fight.
One of the video recordings was captured by journalist Sandi Bachom, who described the scene to the Huffington Post as a “war zone.”
“The Proud Boys literally flew in from everywhere behind me, you can see in the video. Before I knew it, there was a violent brawl. I was so scared my heart was pounding and I was shaking afterwards. I hadn’t seen random violence like that since Charlottesville.”
The New York Police Department (NYPD) had previously posted a video of the brawl appealing to the public for information to identify men in the brawl.
The NYPD also said it had been seeking the arrest of up to nine Proud Boys in connection to the brawl after McInnes’ speech.
Comments