Photos Show 2 Vandals Targeting GOP Club Before Proud Boys Brawl

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The NYPD has released photos of two men wanted in connection with vandalizing the Manhattan Republican Club the night before a violent brawl broke out near the Upper East Side political institution.

The men are accused of breaking the East 83rd Street club's windows, spray painting anarchist symbols on the club's doors and leaving behind a threatening note warning that the vandalism was "merely a beginning," police said.

Newly-released surveillance photos show two men approach and deface the club while wearing dark clothing, hoods and face coverings.

The Manhattan Republican Club was targeted the night before Gavin McInnes — a founder of Vice Media and the leader of the far-right group the Proud Boys — spoke at the club on Friday and replicated the political assassination of a Japanese socialist leader. The note left by the vandals alluded to the club's decision to "invite a hipster-fascist clown to dance for them" — a reference to McInnes.

A protest of McInnes' speech turned violent Friday night when members of the Proud Boys got into a brawl with protesters around the corner from the club. New York City officials condemned the Proud Boys for promoting violence, accused the Metropolitan Republican Club of inviting white supremacy and hate into the Upper East Side and called into question the NYPD's preparedness and response to the violence during a Monday press conference.

Ed Cox, the chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, initially blamed the vandalism on the rhetoric of national Democrats such as Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters and Eric Holder. Some city officials have called on Cox to resign following the Friday night brawl.

The Proud Boys have been identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group is tied to white nationalist extremist groups and holds misogynistic and anti-Muslim beliefs, according to the SPLC. One of the group's former members, Jason Kessler, helped organize the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville.

Photo courtesy NYPD