Crime & Justice

Story of a Vaccine Fight at NYC Eatery Now Includes Racism Claim

PLOT TWIST

According to a lawyer for one of three women accused of going on the attack, a hostess at Carmine’s was spewing slurs.

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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Last week, a fight broke out between a hostess at a popular New York City restaurant and three Texas women after the hostess asked for proof of vaccination. But a new report from The New York Times raises questions what exactly happened when the three women, who were charged with assault and criminal mischief, allegedly attacked the 24-year-old hostess at Carmine’s. A lawyer for one of the women claims the hostess used racial slurs with the women, who are Black, and also said the fiasco involved accusations of having fake vaccination cards. He called the brawl “mutual combat.”

Lawyers for the restaurant and hostess have denied any allegations of racism, and lawyers for both sides in the bizarre episode said the women in fact did provide proof of their vaccination, only for two men who joined their group to fail to do so. According to the Times, a Black Lives Matter activist was planning a protest of the restaurant on Monday for “using vaccine mandates to enforce their racist beliefs and excluding Black patrons.”

Read it at The New York Times