Phillip Johnson Accused in Four Washington D.C. Stabbings at Pro Trump Protest

Phillip Johnson is the suspect accused in the stabbings of four people, including Proud Boys members, according to the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. The stabbings erupted after street fights between Proud Boys and Black Lives Matter and Antifa members. A police report says Johnson was pushed before he produced a knife.

Johnson is 29 years old. Here is the booking information for him. We’ve asked Washington D.C. police for a booking photo but haven’t received it yet:

VINE LINKBooking information for Johnson

The four people were stabbed as brawls erupted between pro-Donald Trump members of the Proud Boys group and Black Lives Matter and Antifa counter-protesters near Harry’s Bar in Washington D.C. after the second Million MAGA March. At least two of those stabbed were affiliated with the Proud Boys, according to photos and videos from the scene. We asked police which group Johnson was affiliated with but they said they don’t release that information.

Here’s what you need to know:

Police Say Johnson Is From Northwest DC & Is Accused of ‘Assault With a Dangerous Weapon’

Washington D.C. police told Heavy.com, “All unrest-related arrests can be found on our website here.”

Additionally, MPD “had eight members with reported injuries in connection to the demonstrations.” As for the stabbing report, MPD wrote, “All victims were transported to an area hospital, conscious and breathing, for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Responding officers arrested 29 year-old Phillip Johnson, of Northwest, DC, for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon.”

You can read the police report here.

The Report Says Johnson Produced a Knife After Being Pushed in the Back

MPDPart of the police report on the stabbings.

The report says that Johnson was pushed before he pulled the knife.

“On Saturday, 12/12/2020, at approximately 2100 hours, officers working First Amendment demonstrations in the District of Columbia responded for a fight in progress. Upon arrival, officers located V-1, V-2, V-3, and V-4, all suffering stab wounds. V-1 identified S-1 as the person who stabbed him,” it reads.

“Further investigation revealed a video from the NY Post showing S-3 push S-1 in the back, at which point S-1 produces a knife, and S-4 then pull on S-1’s mask repeatedly, at which point V-2/S-2 punches S-1 repeatedly in the head. V-1, V-2, V-3, V-4, and S-1 were all transported to local hospitals.”

We wrote D.C. police a follow-up email to confirm whether they are accusing Johnson of all of the stabbings. They wrote, “The suspect in this case in connection with all 4 victims is Phillip Johnson. However, this case remains under investigation.” The other suspects were not named.

Videos provided more details on what happened. It’s hard to decipher but people appear to shout, in one video, “knife,” and “get that mother f***er.” Chaos erupts, and the crowd appears to be gathering around and trying to subdue, even hitting, a person. Police then enter the fray.

At Least Two of the Victims Are Affiliated With the Proud Boys

The police report identifies the stabbing victims as Franklin Todd Gregory of McMinnville, Tennessee; Corey Owen Nielsen, of Robbinsdale, Minnesota; Jeremy Bertino, of Locust, North Carolina; and Gregory Lyons of unknown address.

Bertino is a Proud Boy member. He’s accused of previously saying the following at a Trump rally in Raleigh North Carolina on November 28: “America will never be a communist nation. Never! Your side will lose. We will exterminate you like the rats that you are. Exterminate you!” He’s the owner of a North Carolina store that makes handcrafted jewelry, according to his LinkedIn page. Gregory was affiliated with a boat manufacturing company, according to online records.

Video and photos show another Proud Boy member clutching his stomach after being stabbed, although his name isn’t clear. It also appears from photo and video evidence, as well as accounts from the scene reporting “fights in the streets,” that there was violence and arrests on both sides.

One video shared on Twitter was captioned, “At least one proud boy stabbed after random lone protester fights with multiple proud boys. This protester was the only one around in a mob of a few hundred pb’s and fought with one prior to this video starting and him brandishing a knife.” A man in Proud Boy colors falls to the ground in this video as someone calls for a medic.

Another video, by Eric Thomas, was captioned, “A #ProudBoy is stabbed during a fight with #antifa and requests MPD attention.”

The stabbings occurred near the 500 block of 11th Street NW, according to News4. That’s near Harry’s Bar, which the New York Post described as “a gathering point for the right-wing Proud Boys group.”

Eric Thomas posted a video from earlier in the day captioned, “#antifa clash with MPD as they push the police line back. after numerous objects are thrown at officers they advance towards protestors where things get intense. #MarchForTrump #BlackLivesMatter.”

He also wrote, “multiple fights break out between #antifa and the Proud Boys as the two groups meet. Cops try to intervene as pepper spray is shot into the crowd.”

Protests group were “fighting in the streets,” reported WUSA9. The television station reported that 23 people were arrested on December 12, including six for assaulting police officers. It’s not clear which groups each of those people affiliates with, though.

Getty Members of the Proud Boys kick a member of Antifa on the ground during a protest on December 12, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Video and pictures indicated that at least one of the four people stabbed was a member of the Proud Boys. Daily Mail reported that he was stabbed after confronting an “anti-Trump protester.” Daily Mail reported that some of those stabbed were in critical condition. Pictures show the stabbed Proud Boy clutching his stomach as he is being placed in an ambulance.

Photographer Adam Gray wrote with that picture, “A member of the #ProudBoys is stabbed during violent running street fights in #WashingtonDC tonight #DC #DCProtests @SWNS.” Other photos he posted show, he wrote, Proud Boys fighting with BLM activists during “violent running street fights,” and Proud Boys burning a Black Lives Matter sign.

GettyMembers of the Proud Boys and Antifa clash during a protest on December 12, 2020.

According to The Washington Post, multiple people were stabbed on the night of December 12 as thousands of people demonstrated for President Donald Trump and were met by counter protesters. Daily Mail reported that the four people were stabbed “after violence erupted between the Proud Boys and Black Lives Matter counter-protesters.”

Gray described what happened as “violent clashes between BLM and Proud Boys.”

According to The Post, the rallygoers “refused to accept the results of the election.” The speakers included former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist who said, according to Daily Mail, “Joe Biden will be removed, one way or another!”

The Southern Poverty Law Center labels the Proud Boys extremists, which is a label they disavow. “Their disavowals of bigotry are belied by their actions: rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists,” the site says. “They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings like the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville.”

SPLC’s descriptors of the Proud Boys have been disputed by their founder Gavin McInnes, who filed a lawsuit against SPLC, according to the Anti-Defamation League. It was dismissed. “The Proud Boys represent an unconventional strain of American right-wing extremism. While the group can be described as violent, nationalistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and misogynistic, its members represent a range of ethnic backgrounds, and its leaders vehemently protest any allegations of racism,” ADL writes.

During a debate with Biden, Trump controversially told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” before claiming he didn’t know who they were.

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