2 Proud Boys members sentenced to 4 years for NYC melee
Two members of the far-right Proud Boys were sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for their roles in a street fight after a speech last year at New York's Metropolitan Republican Club.
Judge Mark Dwyer said the lengthy sentences should deter people from engaging in what he called "political street brawls."
The two (I won’t name them) are the first of ten people who were arrested after the brawl, which took place after an appearance by noted shit disturber Gavin McInnes. They had pleaded self-defense, claiming that some Antifa protesters had started the fight. Security video, however, showed that it was members of Gavin’s crew who’d instigated the violence.
Prosecutors called no witnesses, as none came forward. They instead relied solely on several videos. The other eight, no doubt, are now re-thinking the he-hit-me-first defense and looking for plea deals.
No word on whether McInnes has offered to pay their legal fees. (Did they ask Trump?)
Judge Dwyer justified the harsh sentences by comparing the activities of the Proud Boys to the violence which swept parts of Europe in the 1930s and gave rise to the fascists. See this VICE piece for more.1 “We don’t want that to happen in New York … especially at this time in the country when people are so divided.” Right on, Judge!
1. I knew Gavin McInnes during the early nineties in Montreal, when he became a founding partner of VICE. Yes, he was an intolerable shit back then, as well.