Member of 211 Bootboys Avoids Prison Time via Plea Deal over Politically Motivated Attack
A member of a far-right, ultranationalist skinhead crew, the 211 Bootboys, recently avoided jail time when he plead guilty before a New York City court for his role in the politically motivated beating of two brothers.
According to the indictment, John Young, 29, of Washington, DC, originally faced charges including one count of assault in the second degree, one count of assault in the third degree, two counts of menacing in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Second degree assault is a class D felony in New York, for which Young faced up to seven years in prison.
But after accepting a plea deal on July 10, Young was credited with time served, will have to complete just 10 days of community service, and pay only $250 in court fees, according to the New York Post.
Young, a member of the mostly New York metro area-based 211 Bootboys, set upon the brothers when he and other 211 members noticed one of the brothers had an anti-fascist sticker on his cellphone. The beating erupted outside of the Clockwork Bar on Essex Street in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan at around 12:40 a.m. on the morning of February 11.
The brothers fled the initial attack.
According to news accounts based on police reports, Young and his other 211 members chased the brothers onto Hester Street. Young was accused of hitting one of the brothers with brass knuckles and for brandishing a knife. Police in an unmarked car noticed the victims, who identified their attackers back at the Clockwork Bar.
Both needed staples to close head wounds.
Young disputed this account to police, claiming the brothers insulted them and attacked them first.
Members of the 211 Bootboys had gathered earlier that night at a bar in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn called The Place Bar and Lounge, where a benefit show for another member of the crew, Andrew Kuklis, 42, of the village of Patchogue, Long Island, New York, had taken place. The 211 crew was fundraising for Kuklis’ legal defense made necessary by his arrest the previous month.
On January 13, troopers pulled Kuklis over for failure to stay in a single lane. In the course of the traffic stop, troopers discovered marijuana, a loaded .45-caliber handgun and high capacity magazines, according to news reports. A subsequent search of his residence uncovered two more handguns, an AR-15, a large amount of ammunition and more high-capacity magazines.
Kuklis was later charged with four felonies, two misdemeanors, and a traffic violation.
Young is due back in court to pay his fees in September.
