NEW YORK (Audacy) — New footage shows the fight that played out at Carmine’s in Manhattan, where one side is saying it was over vaccine rules, while another claimed a hostess used a racial slur.
Three Texas tourists were arrested last week for assaulting a hostess who allegedly refused to allow part of their group inside the Italian restaurant because of vaccination status.
But a protest held Monday at Carmine’s came together after a lawyer for one of the women from Texas said their client was called a racial slur before the fight.
Justin Moore, a lawyer for one of the Texas women, told the New York Times that the hostess was also rude to her dining party — all of whom are Black — and suggested their vaccine cards were fake. He described the altercation as “mutual combat.”
Restaurant owner Jeffrey Bank released new footage of the incident, which shows one woman walk out of the restaurant and get up close with the hostess before the scuffle breaks out.
The video, which has no audio, shows restaurant workers attempt to quell the fight, with one of the Texas women being carried away by two employees. Some of the incident occurs off-camera.
“My team members work too hard to serve our guests, work too hard to comply with New York’s vaccination requirements, and still suffer too much from the attack for me to allow these false statements to stand,” said Bank in a statement.
Footage from Monday’s protest featured a group chanting “Black lives ain’t matter here,” “cancel Carmine’s” and “Carmine’s is racist.”
BLM Greater New York co-founder Hawk Newsome suggested that Carmine’s used the vaccine requirement as an “excuse” to cover up what he thinks actually happened at the restaurant.
A Carmine's rep told Gothamist Monday, before video was released, that they weren’t going to release footage of the lead-up to the fight out of respect for the DA's prosecution. But a Manhattan DA spokesperson told them they never asked them to do that.
The city has ordered restaurants and other indoor venues to enforce a vaccine requirement for entry.
The three women were arrested on charges of assault and criminal mischief, police said.
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