Proud Boy Arrested In New York ‘Advanced In Rank’ After Attacking Muslim Woman in 2017

This article was originally posted on Medium, however we believe after verifying its authenticity, that it needs a wide audience. It details how one of the same Proud Boys that was very recently arrested in New York for assault, was also behind a racist attack against a Muslim woman of color in the summer of 2017. After the attack, the Proud Boy ‘advanced’ in the organization.

“After assaulting me, Geoff Young updated his Facebook bio to say “Fourth Degree Proud Boy,” implying that he had somehow leveled up by assaulting me, a small Muslim woman.”

Last Friday, a group of Proud Boys in New York City came under scrutiny after the gang beat several people on the ground in a homophobic assault. After much reflection, I have decided to come out with my story about one of the suspects in the beating to provide context. I want to drive the point home: This was not an isolated incident, but instead falls into a pattern of violence fueled by Islamophobia, racism, and misogyny.

I am a Brown Muslim woman. On June 10, 2017 I attended a counter-protest demonstrating against the “March Against Shariah,” a nationwide anti-Muslim event organized by the SPLC-designated hate group “ACT For America.” When the event ended at 2pm, the counter protest marched to City Hall and dispersed. I had left the march and went to Starbucks. On my way to the train station I encountered a group of 4 men wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and “Proud Boys” shirts, who then began harassing me because I was wearing a shirt with Arabic writing on it. One of the men singled me out and repeatedly yelled Islamophobic and misogynistic comments. He told me that my family and I should “go back to our country.” He called me a “terrorist” and said that a “Muslim slut” like me should be killed, along with my family.

Alone, surrounded, and fearing for my safety, I threw my iced coffee toward him and tried to get away.

He became instantly enraged and lunged toward me. He grabbed me by the throat and pushed me up against the wall. He held me there in a choke-hold, but because I was struggling he slammed me to the ground and tried to put his whole body on top of mine.

I kept fighting back so he slammed me again on my left side and pushed my face into the sidewalk, and then slammed me one more time before he put his knee on the back of my head while he kept trying to choke me. During all of this I remember telling him to stop and that he was choking me, but he said “I can still hear you breathing” and choked me even harder.

While I was being attacked, one of the other men stole my phone, slammed it on the concrete, and then threw it into the street. It was completely destroyed.

Red marks from where Geoff Young grabbed me.

Afterwards I ran into a cafe a block away and immediately broke down into hysterics asking to use a phone because I was just attacked and needed to get home. A woman let me use her phone and then offered to walk me to my train station.

My phone after Proud Boys destroyed it.

After I was assaulted, my friends looked through the guest list of the anti-Muslim rally on Facebook, and found a man named Geoff Young bragging about assaulting someone. On his friend Jovi Val’s, [Editor’s Note: Jovi Val was one of the organizers for Unite the Right #2 and also attended the event alongside white nationalists like Jason Kessler.], Facebook profile, Geoff left comments celebrating what Jovi called a “victory.” In the feed, Young recounts “bashing that terrorist breeder,” and even says the location where it happened. These comments and the picture were left the day after I was attacked, and could only be referring to what he did to me.

Geoff Young Brags About Assaulting Me

Geoff Young was motivated by bigotry against Muslims, immigrants, and Black and Brown people, along with his hatred of women. The Proud Boys as an organization encourage violence against left wing protestors, offering a “fourth degree status” to their members if they commit acts of violence. After assaulting me, Geoff Young updated his Facebook bio to say “Fourth Degree Proud Boy,” implying that he had somehow leveled up by assaulting me, a small Muslim woman.

Young Attains “4th Degree” Status for Beating and Choking me

On his Facebook, Geoff Young has called Muslims “savages,” and written that Mosques are “terrorist recruitment and training centers,” that should all be demolished. In the same post, he also said that all Muslims should leave their religion or leave the United States. In another post, he writes that he is “sick of … reading about Muslims being the animals they are” and goes one to say, “Islam is the cancer, death is the answer.”

“Islam is the cancer, death is the answer.”

These comments accompanied the last post.

Geoff is also featured heavily in a short online movie by Pawl Bazile, a fellow Proud Boy, that documents a bizarre caravan meant to intimidate the residents of a Muslim retreat in rural New York. In the documentary, Young admits to trespassing on the property “for several days,” in 2002 to do “reconnaissance,” and spews a bunch of conspiracy theories about how Muslims are trying to take over America.

This Friday, the New York City Proud Boys, including Geoff Young, assaulted protestors of one of their events. Geoff can be seen in the videos of the altercation literally kicking people while they are down. In the audio of one of the videos, you can hear Proud Boys repeatedly call the people they are beating “faggots.” His face has been all over the news the day that I write this as the police look for suspects in the beating. I don’t think they’ll have to look very hard, because it looks like he has again gloated about his violent attacks on Facebook.

Geoff Young with the NYC Proud Boys, behind Gavin McInnes, bottom row, left.

This is why it’s important that we resist the fascist movements rearing their heads today. Half of hate crimes go unreported, because people don’t want to be put on trial for being victims or have to face the people who humiliated them again. The Proud Boys have shown a special propensity for a tactic of weaponizing the police against people who defend themselves, claiming that their brutal assaults on women, queer people, etc. are self defense.

We’ve seen this with Jovi Val, a man who said of me being beaten that I should’ve respected “their right to party.” A month later, he got glass thrown in his face after he put his hands on a woman, garnering national sympathy when he claimed it was merely because he is a conservative. And we’re seeing it now, where a gang of dozens of men runs towards a small group and then beats them senseless on the ground, yelling homophobic slurs, and then claims it was “self defense.” We can never count on politicians or police to work this out. It won’t just go away. We’ve got to show up for each other, especially the most marginalized and oppressed people, because we’re all we’ve got.

I also want to say that it’s very important that people implement good safety practices at protests. Always leave with a buddy. White people, please make sure Black and Brown people leave events safely.

Addendum: On Friday evening, Geoff Young was arrested on charges of attempted assault and riot for his actions on the Upper East Side on October 12th.