Seeks public’s help
Public’s help needed to identify those in clash between protesters
DA’S office seeks identities of those in video of double stabbing in Albany./
The Albany County district attorney’s office on Saturday released video of a double stabbing that took place outside the state Capitol on Wednesday when suspected Antifa supporters clashed with members of the right-wing Proud Boys during a rally supporting President Donald J. Trump.
Authorities said they are seeking the public’s help identifying witnesses and those involved in the melee that took place as the Legislature was opening its 2021 session and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was delivering a coronavirus briefing in a room overlooking the violence.
One of the Trump supporters was stabbed multiple times and underwent emergency surgery to repair an eviscerated bowel at Albany Medical Center Hospital.
The suspect, Alexander S. Contompasis, 37, of Albany, was arrested at the scene by State Police. He is accused of stabbing two people during the incident that erupted in East Capitol Park. The violence began when a smaller group of counter-protesters showed up to the Trump rally, including several who police said were armed with weapons.
Contompasis was arraigned Thursday morning in Albany City Court on charges that include first-degree assault a later released after posting $60,000 bond. The violence begins about halfway through the 20-minute video. Contompasis, police said, is wearing a purple shirt over a gray hooded sweatshirt and appears to run in several times and strike others who are fighting.
Before the fighting starts, Contompasis can be seen in the video holding a cup of coffee and crouched in the grass behind a bench where a man is seated alone. That man told police he is a member of the Proud Boys and was allegedly stabbed by Contompasis moments later.
About two minutes after the fighting started, uniformed Albany police officers and troopers rush in and break it up. Contompasis is shown in the video quickly walking away from the scene as the police arrive.
State Police recovered the knife they suspect was used in the stabbing from Contompasis’ vehicle, which was parked near the Capitol. Several other people were charged with minor offenses and given appearance tickets, including two counter
protesters that police said were armed with expandable batons.
Melissa A. Carpinello, an attorney for Contompasis, said the victims in the stabbing identified themselves to police as members of the “Proud
Boys” and that her client was defending himself from an attack. The FBI has labeled Proud Boys a right-wing extremist group.
The group that gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday, in coordination with a major rally in Washington, D.C., included about 35 Trump supporters, including at least three people police identified as associated with Proud Boys.
“I believe that when the facts of this case come out, it will show that my client was defending himself from an unprovoked attack by self-identified Proud Boys, a radical racist organization,” Carpinello said earlier this week.
Contompasis has several posts on his Facebook page referencing “Antifa,” an unstructured web of anti-fascist groups and individuals who have been described by the FBI as violent anarchists. In a photo posted on his Facebook page, Contompasis has a caption referring to himself as an “Antifa protester from Albany” and another that says “Antifa forever.” In another photo, he is holding a rifle and has a large hunting knife strapped to his side; the photo carries the caption “I am Antifa.”
Carpinello declined to comment on any connection her client may have to Antifa.
The district attorney’s office said they are seeking “additional information about the incident, including video footage or other forms of documentation.” Anyone with information is asked to contact their office at 518-487-5460.
On his Facebook page, Contompasis has a photo of himself holding a hunting-style rifle with a scope. He also has several politically charged comments and photographs of Antifa Tshirts that he wrote in posts that he had purchased.
Contompasis, goes by “Alexander Stokes” on Facebook — Stokes is his middle name.
One of the pro-trump supporters who was at the protest outside the state Capitol was ticketed for harassment after he allegedly struck a woman in the face with a flag stick.
That second stabbing victim, a 35-year-old Rotterdam man, gave police a statement at the hospital acknowledging his role with a local chapter of the Proud Boys and describing in detail the events leading up to the stabbings.
“I am a member of the Proud Boys which is a group of men who believe in the First and Second Amendments of the Constitution and who believe in the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and property,” his statement reads.
He told investigators he arrived late for the “Stop the Steal” pro-trump rally and noticed six people were in the East Capitol Park that he recognized as Antifa members. He said the Antifa supporters were yelling at the Trump supporters, and it escalated until skirmishes broke out.
The man told police that Contompasis, who was wearing a purple shirt and aviator sunglasses, reached into his pocket as a second skirmish broke out that started when an apparent Antifa supporter punched one of the Proud Boy members in the face.
“I saw him reach into his right front pant pocket. I saw a pinkish/red colored handle and realized that he was reaching for a knife,” his statement reads. “I grabbed his left arm and said, ‘Don’t stab anybody.’ He said: ‘I will stab someone.’”
Seconds later, as the Rotterdam man fought with another apparent Antifa supporter, he said the man later identified by police as Contompasis ran over and struck him in the chest and he also felt something in his leg. He later discovered that he had knife wounds to his torso and leg.
The second victim, whose assault was also captured on video, was stabbed in the left side of his lower abdomen.
As police ran toward the violence, the Rotterdam man said he was sitting on a bench examining his wounds when another Antifa supporter who had been involved in the fighting approached him.
He told police the man stated to him: “I’m coming for you. I know who you are. I know where you live.”