Lower East Side Bar Responds After Reported Attack

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — The local bar where a group of white supremacists reportedly attacked two brothers on Saturday morning has responded in the wake of the beat down.

Early Saturday morning, the 27-year-old twin brothers were leaving Clockwork Bar at 21 Essex St. when members of the 211 Crew, a white supremacist gang, reportedly saw them leaving and followed them outside the bar. Police said that the group "forcibly removed" one brother's cellphone in addition to threatening the men with a knife, and "the victims were punched and kicked in the head repeatedly." The New York Post reported that the group saw one brother's phone, which had a sticker that read "New York City Anti-Fascists," before launching the attack. The brothers were treated for their injuries, and both received multiple stitches to their heads.

The owners of the bar released a statement wishing the brothers a speedy recovery and condemning the attack.

"We would also like to state clearly that Clockwork Bar does NOT endorse, sympathize, nor invite the views and beliefs of Neo-Nazi, supremacist hate groups. These groups and their views are not welcome at our establishment. They have never been, nor will ever be invited or allowed in our bar," they said in the statement. "We apologize for what happened and are taking steps to prevent future instances as well as working with the NYPD to increase awareness and security for our patrons."

Officers responded and said they arrested one person in connection with the attack, 29-year-old John Young of Washington, D.C. Young was charged with assault, grand larceny, menacing, criminal mischief, and possession of a weapon, police said. Police did not know how many people in total were involved, but said the incident was being investigated by the department's hate crimes task force.

New York City and cities around the nation saw a reported uptick in hate crimes in the weeks after President Donald Trump's election in November. At a press conference on crime in the city last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that that uptick in hate crimes after the election has "leveled off."

"We saw...quite a bit of uptick directly after Election Day. That has now since leveled off from what we can see," de Blasio said last week. He added that most of the increase was due to hate speech and graffiti.

The NYPD had no updates on the investigating on Tuesday afternoon.