"The match was struck by the Metropolitan Republican Club bringing in these hatemongers," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. | Office of the Governor Day 3 of McInnes fracas features mutual condemnation

The governor compared the Republican club’s guest to the Ku Klux Klan. The City Council speaker demanded the chair of the state Republican Party resign.

The father of the Manhattan GOP chair made it clear it was his daughter's landlord, the Metropolitan Republican Club, that invited Gavin McInnes, a self-described Islamophobe, to speak and then defended its decision to do so.


“Muslims hate gays and want to throw them off the roofs and they do that,” John Catsimatidis, a major Cuomo donor and the father of Manhattan GOP Chairwoman Andrea Catsimatidis, told POLITICO. “Muslims killed 400,000 Christians in the Middle East.” (It's not clear where that number comes from.)

Three days after McInnes spoke at the club — sparking protests and violence — conflict raged between the Democratic establishment, which forcefully condemned the GOP for giving McInnes a platform, and Republicans, who responded with defenses of free speech.

The conflict played out in real time during an appearance by Council Speaker Corey Johnson in front of the Upper East Side club, after Johnson demanded the state Republican chairman resign.

“I hate Gavin McInnes, but I will defend his right to speak! That’s the First Amendment, Corey,” said an angry-seeming man, in a video captured by reporter Ivan Pereira. Then he turned to reporters and identified himself.

“My name is Pete Holmberg. I’m sorry for yelling. I’m a member here. I’m running for state Senate," Holmberg said.

The club leases offices to the Manhattan GOP and the state Republican Party, but it was the club that invited McInnes, founder of the group the Proud Boys, to speak three weeks before the gubernatorial and midterm elections.

The night before the speech, activists tagged the club’s doors with anarchist symbols and threw bricks through its windows. The next day, the Republican Party responded to the vandalism with outrage, but made little mention of what Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a phone call on Monday, described as “the incendiary act” that prompted the vandalism in the first place.

“The match was struck by the Metropolitan Republican Club bringing in these hatemongers,” Cuomo said. “If you invite the Ku Klux Klan because the Republican Party wants to demonstrate free speech, and the Ku Klux Klan comes in and marches up Fifth Avenue, don’t be surprised if there is violence.”

Club President Deborah Coughlin didn’t respond to requests for comment. Nor did Andrea Catsimatidis.

State GOP Chairman Ed Cox again accused Democrats of politicizing the events and failing to condemn the initial vandalism done to the club.

"I asked Governor Cuomo and the state’s elected leaders to condemn the attack by Antifa forces against the Metropolitan Republican Club last week, and urge civility as a confirmed threat of further violence loomed," Cox said in a statement. "Instead of joining together to outright reject political violence, Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Johnson and others have cravenly politicized these series of events, spread misinformation and insulted the integrity of the NYPD, who have conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism."

However, William O’Reilly, past president of the club, condemned its decision to give McInnes a platform at this fragile time in national politics.

McInnes “sounds like a total idiot to me,” O’Reilly told POLITICO. “We are at a place in the country where people are literally hurling bottles at each other. It’s like, let’s take it down. Comedy is fine, but from what I’ve read about him and his supporters, they’re not helpful. … I suspect you’re not going to see other speakers like him for quite some time at that club."

Meanwhile, critics assailed the NYPD on Monday for not making any arrests in the melee following McInnes’ speech, during which Proud Boys members appeared to assault protesters.

In a statement, the NYPD said it was continuing to investigate the incident and is seeking information on persons of interest. Videos of the physical altercation have circulated on Twitter. But thus far, the NYPD said, no one has filed a complaint.

"In this case, we are looking for at least nine individuals associated with the Proud Boys regarding the incidents on Oct. 12," said police spokesman Phil Walzak.

“Somehow, Gavin McInnes, the self-proclaimed head and founder of the Proud Boys, was invited in and allowed to spout off about an assassination," Johnson said on Monday. "Let’s repeat that: He was here to talk about a political assassination that occurred in the past, brandishing a samurai sword. How is that allowed?”

Donovan Richards, an African-American Council member, joined him at the club.

“The sad reality is that black men have been killed across this country for holding far less,” he said.

Rosa Goldensohn and Bill Mahoney contributed to this report.