Neo-Nazi Skinheads Sentenced in N.J. Hate Crime Assault
Two members of a white supremacist group called the Aryan Terror Brigade, one of them a native of Slovakia, were sentenced to prison Wednesday for their New Year’s Eve 2011 hate crime attack on two Egyptians in New Jersey.
U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano, decrying the men’s “blatant acts of racism,” sentenced Michal Gunar and Kyle Powell to prison for their roles in the assault in Sayreville, N.J. Gunar, 29, of East Windsor, N.J., was sentenced to 33 months while Powell, 24, of West Collingswood, N.J., got 15 months.
Gunar had previously pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault, as well as the actual commission of a hate crime assault, both in violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Powell previously pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault. According to The Associated Press, Gunar could be deported to his native Slovakia after serving his prison term.
The men and a third suspect, Christopher Ising, 31, a reported member of the Atlantic City Skins from Waretown, N.J., weren’t arrested until late last year, almost year after the hate crime. Ising has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault and commission of a hate crime assault and is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Trenton, N.J.
Gunar admitted attending a New Year’s Eve “meet and greet” white supremacist gathering at a residence in East Brunswick, N.J., on Dec. 31, 2011. Charging documents say that Gunar, Powell and Ising drove to an apartment complex in Sayreville later that night with the express purpose of randomly assaulting non-Caucasian individuals.
At the time of their arrests last December, investigators said the three skinhead assailants, who were armed with knives and brass knuckles, attacked three Middle Eastern men and injured two of them while shouting anti-Arab slurs.
While entering his guilty pleas, Gunar admitted assaulting at least one man by pulling him out of a parked car and punching his face and head, causing injuries.
