Last night, videos began circulating on Twitter of what appeared to be a pro-Trump gang inflicting violence on protestors after a Republican club event in New York City.
The incident occurred right after a Metropolitan Republican Club event featuring Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, a far-right men’s group which describes itself as “anti-white guilt.” The Club building had been vandalized earlier that morning, possibly in protest of McInnes’ appearance.
Independent filmmaker Sandi Bachom uploaded a video of the fight, depicting men in “Make America Great Again” hats attacking people while yelling homophobic slurs.
https://twitter.com/sandibachom/status/1051001218703781890
Photojournalist Shay Horse shared pictures showing the gang violently kicking a person laying on the sidewalk.
This is one of those nights where things seem even more fucked up when editing/reviewing my photos. It wasn’t until I wanna editing that I realized how many fights were happening at once. pic.twitter.com/rRcXV5nXWJ
— Shay Horse (@HuntedHorse) October 13, 2018
In an email, McInnes told HuffPost that one of the protesters actually started the fight. “I recognized one of them,” he said. “He stole a Proud Boys MAGA hat and was immediately tuned up.”
The New York Police Department told HuffPost reporter Christopher Mathias that while three people had been arrested near the event, they could not confirm if any of them were involved.