By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
A Newark Grand Jury indicted two men arrested Monday for the 2011 New Years Eve hate crime assault on three Middle Eastern men in Sayerville, New Jersey. The defendants appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor, in Newark federal court.
Christopher Isling, of Sayerville and Michal Gunar, of East Windsor are accused of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act by conspiring to, and assaulting three men, described in the indictment as being of Egyptian descent. Two of the victims sustained injuries.
Investigators say on the night of December 31, 2011, the accused, purported members of white supremacist groups known as the "Atlantic City Skins" and the "Aryan Terror Brigade," conspired to drive to an apartment complex in East Brunswick armed with a knife and a set of brass knuckles to locate random people of Arab descent and assault them.
According to the indictment, once there, the pair found the three victims and began punching them while shouting racial slurs.
Gunar, 27, allegedly punched his victim and shouted, "Show me your faces you Arab m****************."
The second victim was attacked with brass knuckles by Ising, 31, as he came to the aid of the first victim. After the assault, Ising and Gunar fled the complex and returned to Ising's apartment.
During the investigation, police uncovered evidence that one of the men logged on to an Internet web site, posting a photograph of an individual wearing blood-stained pants. Police say it was Gunar who typed a caption underneath the photograph, which read, "F**** Ni******."
Additional evidence showed that on January 8, 2012, using a computer, Gunar engaged in correspondence with another individual where he boasted about the December 31, 2011 assaults.
Investigators found an email written by Gunar that stated, "...we went to hunt down some sand n******, it was me and my other bro on like 6 or eight and we whopped them..."
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said the hate crimes count with which the defendants are charged is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and the conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison.
Both charges carry $250,000 fines.
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