Left vs right; Antifa vs Proud Boys. Racism, white supremacist, Nazis – you name it, conservatives have been called it. The right isn’t exactly innocent in the political violence and name calling game, but the real issue is how the two sides are targeted and treated legally. When an elected Democrat official calls for harassment against Trump supporters, no one bats an eye. Free speech is only okay if liberals are the ones doing the talking. Antifa threatens, harasses, and even injures people and get away, but two Proud Boys members are punished – and could be sentenced to many years in prison – for assault after a fight with the mask-wearing group.
Proud Boys marching
On Aug. 17, the Proud Boys held a rally to bring awareness to Antifa as a domestic terrorist group. The rally lasted less than two hours after the self-proclaimed Western chauvinists deemed the gathering a success because President Donald Trump had tweeted out a message naming the masked group an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.”
However, Eric K. Ward, the executive director of the Western States Center in Portland, claimed the opposite. “The white nationalist, alt-right collation that came to Portland were denied what they sought to create, which was large-scale civil disturbances,” he told the New York Post.
On its website, the Western States Center says, “We strengthen the organizing capacity of often-marginalized communities, with a particular emphasis on gender justice, racial justice, and tribal sovereignty work.”
Liberty Nation reported on the event, including videos of the anti-fascist group chasing a man and a young girl for blocks, breaking windows on the Boys’ bus, refusing to let conservatives leave until police intervened, name calling, threats, and so on. Yet, the left flips the narrative, as is their modus operandi, and claim the Proud Boys were the ones seeking “large-scale civil disturbances.”
Arrested and Charged – Proud Boys, not Antifa
In Oct. 2018, the Proud Boys clashed with members of Antifa, but because the anti-fascist group chooses to hide behind their masks, they were never arrested. In fact, the court referred to the four supposed victims as Shaved Head, Ponytail, Khaki, and Spike Belt because they were never able to discover their identities. Despite having no victims to testify, and even after prosecutors charged the left-wing absent members with attempted assault, two Proud Boys were tried and convicted of attempted gang assault, riot, and attempted assault.
Maxwell Hare and John Kinsman will be sentenced in October and could face up to 15 years in prison. Even though they claimed they were acting in self-defense and even though the jury found that Kinsman’s actions were “justified” on the lowest of the assault charges.
Here’s what happened.
Gavin McInnes, Proud Boys founder, was asked to speak at the Metropolitan Republican Club. The night before his appearance, vandals (allegedly Antifa members) spray painted anti-fascist graffiti on the doors, glued the locks with caulk, and threw bricks through the windows. They also left a note declaring this was “merely the beginning.” McInnes, using a plastic sword, reenacted the 1960 murder of a Japanese socialist leader by a teenage ultranationalist, while people gathered outside chanting “No Nazis, no KKK, no fascist USA”
Maxwell Hare (left) and John Kinsman (right)
Several Proud Boys members, who claim “we don’t start fights, we finish them,” went outside and the brawl commenced. Various videos captured the clash and showed the two defendants punching four of the Antifa members. While violence should not be excused, the issue here is that a violent and threatening group such as Antifa can cause property damage, issue threats, and continue on as if they have done nothing wrong. Not even when members attacked conservative reporter Andy Ngo, putting him in the hospital with a brain hemorrhage, were these people condemned.
The chairman of the state Republican Party, Ed Cox, said the Democrats and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) failed to speak out against the vandals. “The governor does not condemn it, the governor does not say anything,” he said. “But then when there is later violence, he then says that it’s all Donald Trump’s fault. What kind of governor is that?”
“We’re the victims here,” president of the Metropolitan Republican Club, Deborah Coughlin, said the day after the event.
Jack Goldberg, Kinsman’s lawyer, suggested that prosecutors and Antifa were working together. “These people aren’t the New York County district attorney’s office,” he said during his summation at the trial. “They are the New York County district Antifa office.”
It certainly seems like the left can do no wrong, as evidenced by the many, many instances of vandalization, threats, and even violence caused by the so-called anti-fascist group known as Antifa.
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Read more from Kelli Ballard or comment on this article at Liberty Nation.com.
