Man Sentenced to Prison for Assault Following Hate Group Meetup in East Brunswick

Written by Anthony Bellano.

An East Windsor man was sentenced to 33 months in prison for his role in the assault of two Middle Eastern men in Sayreville on New Year’s Eve, 2011, following a white supremacist meet-and-greet event in East Brunswick.

According to a press release from the office of U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, Michal Gunar, 29, was one of two members of the Aryan Terror Brigade sentenced on Wednesday.

He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault, and the commission of the actual assault in violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, Fishman said.

Kyle Powell, 24, of West Collingswood, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault.

Both men will serve three years of supervised release, Fishman said.

A third man, Christopher Ising, 31, of Waretown, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges that faced Gunar, Fishman said. Ising, a member of the Atlantic City Skins white supremacist group, is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Gunar attended a white supremacist meet and greet event in East Brunswick on Dec. 31, 2011. Following the event, Gunar, Powell and Ising drove to a Sayreville apartment complex with the intent of assaulting non-Caucasians at random.

According to court proceedings, Gunar attacked two Middle Eastern men with a knife while shouting anti-Arab slurs. Gunar admitted he assaulted at least one man when he pulled him out of a parked car and punched him in the face and head.

Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford; special agents of the U.S. Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James Mottola, Criminal Investigations, Newark Field Office; and detectives from the N.J. State Attorney General’s Office, under the direction of Acting Attorney General John Jay Hoffman, with the investigation.