Northport Man Arrested After 'Proud Boys'' Melee
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Northport resident Douglas Lennan appears in Manhattan Criminal Court following his arrest on riot and assault charges for a clash that occurred between right- and left-wing extremists groups in Manhattan this month. Pool photo/William Miller
By Sophia Ricco
sricco@longislandergroup.com
A Northport man was among five men arrested in the wake of a violent clash earlier this month outside the Metropolitan Republican Club that made national headlines.
Douglas Lennan, 40, of Northport was charged with riot and assault by New York City Police after the far-right organization Proud Boys clashed with members of the far-left, anti-facist movement Antifa on Oct. 12. The fight broke out after Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes made a speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club on New York’s upper east side. Video of the brawl obtained by police and released to aid in the search for suspects resulted in additional arrests, including Lennan’s.
A spokesman for the NYPD Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, confirmed Lennan was taken into custody by police in the 19th Precinct at approximately 10:45 a.m., Oct. 22. He was arraigned that day in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Lennan was represented by a Legal Aid attorney at his arraignment. His next apearance is Oct. 30.
The all-male Proud Boys is an extremist organization whose members advocate against “political correctness” and “white guilt,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
On a show streamed on the Compound Media platform, McInnes claimed western culture is superior, racism is a construct invented to make white people feel guilty, Islam advocates for violence and feminism exists to take away men’s masculinity.
