A man believed to be a member of the Proud Boys has been arrested in connection with the brawl outside of the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan on Friday, Oct. 12, according to the NYPD.
Police arrested Geoffrey Young, 38, of New City, New York on Thursday night. Young was charged with rioting and attempted assault in relation to last week’s violence, in which members of the Proud Boys were captured on multiple videos beating protestors outside of the Republican club.
Young was one of the people the NYPD sought to identify in the wake of the brawl. Another suspect is in custody pending charges, NYPD said on Friday.
Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes said that he was arranging the surrender of eight members being sought by NYPD, the New York Times reported.
Geoff Young is identified as a Proud Boys member on the official Proud Boys Magazine website. In a Proud Boys Magazine-produced video, Young says that terrorists have the right interpretation of the Koran, the Daily Beast reported, and predicted that European countries would become Islamic, and “it’s going to be something like WWII times ten.”
Proud Boys investigation ongoing: NYPD
Police say they are continuing to investigate the Upper East Side incident. The violence outside of the Metropolitan Republican Club took place after the Upper East Side venue hosted an event by McInnes.
The Proud Boys have been deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Some New Yorkers including officials criticized the NYPD’s inaction at the scene. Police arrested three protestors shortly after the incident, but no Proud Boys members initially.
A few days after the violence, NYPD announced that they were looking for suspects who had been seen on video kicking and punching people on the sidewalk.
Police are still looking for at least 10 other people involved in the fight.
“The arrest of Proud Boy Geoffrey Young is a positive step in the aftermath of the unacceptable violence outside the Metropolitan Republican Club,” Council Member Keith Powers said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing more arrests made from last Friday’s hateful attacks. … There is no place for violence in my district, or anywhere in New York City. Not now, not ever.”