Man Admits To Attacking Brothers In Attack Linked To Fascists

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — A man who attacked two brothers in a white supremacist-linked attack outside a Lower East Side bar in February pleaded guilty to an assault charge on Monday.

John Young is expected to be ordered to get mental health treatment and complete 10 days of community service after admitting to the attack, which left both brothers with injuries that required stitches, according to law enforcement sources.

Young was arrested in February after he and a group of people attacked the brothers, police said at the time. According to the police account, a large group of people, including Young, ambushed the brothers on Feb. 11 outside the Clockwork Bar, located at 22 Essex St.

Multiple people with the white supremacist "211 Crew" were inside the bar and followed the brothers as they were leaving, police said at the time. Young's exact affiliation with the 211 Crew, if any, was not immediately clear on Tuesday. (Want more local news? Sign up here for free news alerts and neighborhood updates from Patch.)

In February, 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," according to an NYPD spokesman.

The New York Post reported at the time that the group saw one brother's phone, which had a sticker that read "New York City Anti-Fascists," before launching the attack. The two brothers were treated for multiple injuries, included several stitches to their heads.

Officers arrested Young, 29, shortly after the attack. He was the only person arrested, although police believe there were multiple other people involved.

Young pleaded guilty on Monday. He copped to one assault charge and one menacing charge in exchange for a promised sentence of mental health treatment and ten days of community service. He was initially charged with assault, grand larceny, menacing, criminal mischief and possession of a weapon, police said.

Patch was not immediately able to contact Young's attorney on Tuesday. He is scheduled to be officially sentenced later this summer.

The 211 Crew is a white supremacist prison gang that operates both in and outside of prisons, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Lead image via Shutterstock.