Following the guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin 's trial, protesters marching through New York City's streets decided to stop and ...
Following the guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin's trial, protesters marching through New York City's streets decided to stop and hassle diners at a Brooklyn restaurant.
Video captured the moment protesters descended on Maya Taqueria in Prospect Heights on Tuesday evening.
Emotions were running high following the conviction of Chauvin in the death of George Floyd just hours earlier.
Video of the incident picks up with a man leading a crowd of protesters in a call-and-response chant.
The protests outside of Maya Taqueria were led by this man on Tuesday night
Many of the people at the restaurant simply looked on as the protest unfolded
Diners at Maya Taqueria sat and watched as they were heckled by the protesters
It's not clear why one protester decided to open an umbrella during the protest
'Get the f*** out of New York,' the protesters say. 'We don't want you here. We don't want you here.'
The leader of the protest continues: 'We don't want your f***ing money. We don't want your f***ing taqueria ... owned by f***ing white men.'
A protester then says 'Tip 30 percent,' which the call leader echoes and which draws cheers from the crowd.
The video focuses on the protesters, but diners can briefly seen calmly watching the demonstration taking place.
The video, which was originally posted by Eric Thomas on Twitter, has garnered over 628,000 views so far.
Reporter Nick Pinto shared that the protesters moved north after their stop at Maya Taqueria, chanting, 'Fire! Fire to the gentrifiers!'
Some people on Twitter took exception to the idea that Maya Taqueria was 'owned by white men.'
'So they clearly don’t know anything about the Mexican American family that owns and operates Maya Taqueria,' Steven Kastenbaum tweeted.
'Psst Maya Taqueria is owned by a Mexican American family,' Amy Grimm added.
Daniel Nasser, who is cited as the operating manager and owner of Maya Taqueria, grew up in San Francisco before moving to Brooklyn in 2001. His heritage is not clear.
A staff member at Maya Taqueria told DailyMail.com simply 'no comment' when reached.
Maya Taqueria, like many restaurants in New York and across the US, have struggled during the past year due to coronavirus restrictions that saw all indoor dining banned until earlier this year.
The New York Times reported in December that Maya Taqueria built a patio on the street over the summer to encourage outdoor dining during the COVID-19 pandemic.
They protected their Prospect Heights outdoor setup with heavy wooden barriers.
The setup caused a problem in the winter, however, when it was too challenging to move during the city's winter storms.
'These things now weigh 300 or 400 pounds,' Nassar said at the time. 'You can’t tell me to make this thing weigh this much and then have me dismantle and bring it in.'
He had vowed to dismantle the outdoor setup if the winter storms destroyed it, though the outdoor setup was in place when the protesters arrived on Tuesday.
The protest appeared to be organized by a group called NYC Shut It Down, who are activists who came together following the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of the police.
'WE DEMAND an end to racist police terror, mass incarceration, and white supremacy,' their website reads. 'We work in solidarity with those fighting for Black liberation, and the liberation of all oppressed people.'
Their platform includes abolition stemming from mass incarceration, decolonization, and liberation.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn after Chauvin was convicted on Tuesday evening.
They marched along Flatbush Avenue and briefly blocked traffic, chanting the names of other victims of police brutality.
The protests in New York City were peaceful, though. The NYPD was prepared for the protests in the wake of the verdict being read.
Protests took place in Brooklyn following the verdict being read on Tuesday evening
Protesters appear to confront the police on Tuesday night during demonstrations
Tuesday night's protesters in Brooklyn briefly blocked traffic during their demonstration
According to ABC7, the NYPD planned to deploy police on Tuesday night to ensure the safety of demonstrations.
Community affairs officers were set to be on the front lines a year after the NYPD was accused of using excessive force during the initial protests following George Floyd's death.
While some protesters in New York were heckling diners, most reactions to the Chauvin guilty verdict were of jubilation on Tuesday evening.
In Minneapolis, those who gathered outside the courthouse to hear the verdict cheered when Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Chauvin is not set to be sentenced for eight weeks, but he could serve up to 75 years in prison.
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