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Members of ‘Proud Boys’ Convicted in 2018 UES Brawl with Antifa

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By: Mary Carpenti

A pair of young men who belong to the right-wing Proud Boys group were found guilty on Monday of fighting with members of the leftist vigilante group Antifa in New York City in 2018.

John Kinsman and Maxwell Hare were pronounced guilty of attempted gang assault, attempted assault and riot stemming from the confrontation by a jury. The incident took place in October close to the Metropolitan Republican Club after a speech by one-time Proud Boys leader Gavin McInnes.

The maximum sentence that each of the men faces is 15 years. They are free until their sentencing.

“Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. hailed the convictions as a blow against the rise of extremism and “mob violence,” according to the New York Post. “As extremism rises in America, a Manhattan jury has declared in one voice that New Yorkers will not tolerate mob violence in our backyard,” he said in a statement. Before the 2018 skirmish, about 60 protesters, including members of antifa, massed behind barricades to jeer McInnes’ address.”

In order to prevent further violence, police officers reported moved the Proud Boys west on 83rd Street and south on Park Avenue. The Antifa thugs were hustled in the opposite direction.

Nearly a dozen Proud Boys were charged in the wake of the altercation, and seven reportedly accepted plea deals.

Antifa and the Proud Boys “were part of dueling demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, Saturday that resulted in 13 arrests and six injuries,” CNN reported. “People at the demonstrations were detained for a variety of charges including disorderly conduct, interfering with police, unlawful use of a weapon, and possession of a weapon on the park, Police Chief Danielle Outlaw said.”

“An attorney for Kinsman said he had no comment on the convictions. A message seeking comment was left with Hare’s attorney,” noted whig.com. “During the trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, the defense lawyers argued that Antifa started the fight by charging the Proud Boys and that it escalated when a bottle was thrown.

“Antifa’s only missing accessory was war paint,” the lawyers wrote in one filing. “They gathered and lay in wait in the Upper East Side to aggressively attack the Proud Boys exiting the club.” The pair face up to 15 years in prison at their Oct. 12 sentencing.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal advocacy organization, has designated the all-male Proud Boys as a hate group, whig.com added. “McInnes, a Vice Media co-founder, quit the Proud Boys a month after the clash that followed his speech.”

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