THREAD: A new video contradicts claims by Gavin McInnes and others about what started the violence by his group, the Proud Boys, after his talk at the Metropolitan Republican Club in New York City on Oct. 12.
1/6 McInnes said an Antifa “ambush” targeted “two stragglers at the back” of a departing group of Proud Boys and that an ambusher took “one of their MAGA hats,” leading to a fight
2/6 Later, after the police released a video that showed a protester throwing a plastic bottle, McInnes pointed to that, too, as an instigating moment.
3/6 But a review of multiple videos, including one that has not previously been made public, shows what happened after the talk, when McInnes’s audience members, including Proud Boys, began walking south on Park Avenue from 83rd Street.
4/6 The brand new footage shows what followed: two Proud Boys went east on 82nd Street, approaching protesters who were perhaps 100 feet away from Park Avenue. By the time the plastic bottle was thrown, one of those two Proud Boys was within a few feet and charging.
5/6 Before any blows on 82nd Street someone yelled “Proud Boys! You ready?” That appears to have drawn additional members of the group from Park Avenue to join those already approaching the protesters.
