Two alleged N.J. white supremacists sentenced in New Year's Eve 2011 hate crime

The Star-Ledger, New Jersey/August 7, 2013

By Jason Grant

Sayerville -- Two members of the “Aryan Terror Brigade” white supremacist group were sentenced to prison today for beating up Middle Eastern men on New Year’s Eve 2011 after drinking alcohol and listening to white supremacist music at what authorities have described as a “meet and greet” gathering for skinheads.

U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano, in Trenton, sentenced Michal Gunar, 29, of East Windsor, to 33 months in prison, authorities said. Gunar had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault and the commission of a hate crime assault, said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

Pisano also sentenced Kyle Powell, 24, of West Collingswood, to 15 months in prison, authorities said. Powell had pleaded guilty in the attack to conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault.

Authorities, citing case documents and statements made in court proceedings, said Gunar had admitted to attending a New Year’s Eve “meet and greet” white supremacist event on Dec. 31, 2011 in East Brunswick.

That night, authorities said, Gunar, Powell and Christopher Ising, 31, of Waretown, drove to an apartment complex in Sayreville to assault random, non-white people.

Shortly before midnight, Ising, who allegedly hosted the “meet and greet,” drove Gunar and Powell drove to Sayreville, according to an indictment in the case and statements by authorities. Soon after, they set upon three people of Egyptian descent.

One victim was punched in the face and head after being confronted in the apartment complex parking lot, as Gunar allegedly stated, "show me your faces you Arab (expletive)," according to the indictment. Ising allegedly assaulted a second man with brass knuckles to the head.

Authorities have also said Gunar bragged online about the encounter, claiming, "it was me and my other bro on like 6 or eight and we whooped them."

In a statement released today from Fishman’s office, authorities said Gunar brandished a knife and attacked two Middle Eastern men, shouting anti-Arab slurs.

Ising, who has swastika tattoos on his arms and down his back, is a purported member of a white supremacist group known as the “Atlantic City Skins.” He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault and the commission of a hate crime assault, authorities said. He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday on those charges.

Both the “Aryan Terror Brigade” and the "Atlantic City Skins” have been on the watch lists of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League as "active skinhead hate groups."

According to statements made by the ADL in 2012, the Atlantic City Skins was the largest of the New Jersey-based racist skinhead groups in numbers and reach, and had ties to some outlaw motorcycle groups.

Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the SPLC, said in 2012 that the Aryan Terror Brigade has 21 chapters in 19 states, and a web page posting names and addresses of so-called "race traitors."

Defense lawyers for Gunar and Powell could not be reached today.

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