Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes sues Rutherford over canceled comedy show

Proud Boys founder and comedian Gavin McInnes filed suit against Rutherford on Thursday, weeks after he threatened to do so, because his scheduled November comedy show at the Williams Center was canceled at the last minute. The suit claims that the borough violated McInnes' First Amendment rights.

The complaint, shared with NorthJersey.com by McInnes' attorney Jonathan Gross, names the borough, Mayor Frank Nunziato and Police Chief John Russo as defendants. McInnes, who also co-founded Vice magazine, is accusing the Police Department of canceling the show, an action that was later "ratified" by the mayor and council, according to the suit.

"This action is commenced by [McInnes] to redress violations of his civil rights, as protected by the United States Constitution and the New Jersey Civil Rights Protection Act, and to recover damages proximately caused by the violation of his rights," the suit says.

The suit alleges that Russo called the Williams Center's owner multiple times and told him he "would not tolerate Mr. McInnes being allowed to perform his comedy show," and that the owner understood that as an "implied order" to cancel the show. The suit called it "intimidation."

Furthermore, the suit says the mayor and council confirmed at the Nov. 14 council meeting that the cancellation was the result of a recommendation from the Rutherford Civil Rights Commission.

"By their comments on the record during the [council meeting], the mayor, the council ... made it abundantly clear that they all disapproved of Mr. McInnes’ person and his speech and that this constituted sufficient reason for the borough to restrain Mr. McInnes’ constitutionally protected freedom of expression in Rutherford," the complaint says.

"We were expecting this," Nunziato said. "We had already reached out to our insurance carrier when the notice of tort [was received]."

John Bruno, borough attorney for Rutherford, said in an emailed statement, "The borough did not violate Mr. McInnes' rights and the borough took no action to cancel Mr. McInnes."

Russo, the police chief, declined to comment Thursday. But in a previous interview, he said he advised the venue to cancel the event because police intelligence suggested it could cause conflict, since activists were allegedly planning a protest outside the venue.

"I explained to [McInnes] the situation and, obviously, he was not happy," the police chief said in November. "But there was no way that I could have provided adequate security with the time frame given."

Local:At Teaneck hearing, NJ leaders propose ways to combat 'rising hate' and antisemitism

Nunziato previously told NorthJersey.com that the borough wasn't aware of the booking until midday on Nov. 10, the day of the show.

"It was billed as a comedy show. When we found out later in the day it was at the Williams Center, apparently there were 200 tickets sold," Nunziato said at the time, noting that the borough has no say in the venue's scheduling. "He’s a private owner. We have no control over who he contracts with."

The Williams Center event was a stop on the Cognitive Dissidents tour, which appears to be organized by Josh Denny, who describes himself on Twitter as a " 'canceled' comedian, podcaster, foodie and Libertarian." A listing for the tour on ticket vendor Eventbrite's webpage notes that Denny regularly appears on McInnes' podcast.

Councilwoman Maria Begg-Roberson had also received complaints from people based on social media postings about the show, Nunziato said then.

The complaint states that McInnes' comedy has never incited or resulted in violence. But in November, Russo said the department had seen threats against McInnes.

"After doing research, yes, it’s easy to see there are people who take exception to what he does, which creates the security risk for me," Russo said at the time. "I’m not going to comment on the content of this tour. And my decisions were not based on the content of his show or who he is."

The Williams Center was sold to a private owner and resident last year and currently works with a third-party booker, which scheduled the McInnes appearance.

McInnes founded the Proud Boys in 2016, saying his intention was to promote "western chauvinist" values, according to The New York Times, which reported this year that McInnes officially left the group in 2018. Still, McInnes has continued to rebut the Proud Boys' reputation as a hate group, even suing the Southern Poverty Law Center over such a statement in 2019, USA Today reported.

The comedy tour has no affiliation with the Proud Boys, but it has received backlash online. In October, a scheduled show at Penn State was canceled.

Staff Writer Nicholas Katzban contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes sues Rutherford NJ