Three Texas women who were seen in a video allegedly attacking a NYC restaurant hostess after their vaccination cards were questio...
Three Texas women who were seen in a video allegedly attacking a NYC restaurant hostess after their vaccination cards were questioned said they were racially profiled and called the n-word.
The trio, who are black, are now claiming their unnamed 24 year-old hostess, who is Asian, was actually the aggressor, and have called for her to be fired.
They spoke out two days after Thursday's incident at popular Upper West Side restaurant Carmines. Restaurant staff jumped in to defend their coworker, who was left with viruses and scratches, with footage of the brawl making headlines across the United States.
Since then, lawyers for the women and the restaurant exchanged words, and Hawk Newsome, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter NY, said they plan to hold a protest on Monday.
Texas civil rights lawyer Justin Moore told Daily News, 'This hostess clearly has some anger management issues and unfortunately her aggression and her violence led to something that three Black women are being punished for.'
A lawyer for Carmine's denied the Texas women's accusation.
'Any claim that they were racially profiled is a complete fabrication, disingenuous, and outright irresponsible,' the lawyer, Carolyn Richmond, told The Daily News.
Three women from Texas punched and beat a host at the Carmine's Restaurant, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan after she asked for their proof of vaccination to dine indoors
Carmine's staff, right, assisted by another person, jumped in to separate one of the attackers from the 24-year-old host
One of Carmine's managers, left, confronted the women who attacked her employee. The women complained that they were not being allowed inside
The three black Texas women - Kaeita Rankin, 44, her niece Tyonnie Keshay Rankin and Sally Rechelle Lewis, 49, - were arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief.
They were given desk appearance tickets and ordered to appear in court on October 5.
The hostess 'refused service to these women and got hostile with them,' Moore said in a statement on Friday.
'The injuries that she received were incurred by her being physically restrained by other staff at Carmine’s after she was called out for racial discrimination, which she took offense to.'
The civil rights lawyer said the women were leaving when someone - it's unclear who - called them the n-word and claimed the hostess was the aggressor by 'lunging' at Rankin.
'The hostess is apparently poorly trained to deal with patrols and has obvious issues with black women and has a disregard for women of color,' Moore said.
Carmine's, which has two locations in New York City as well as outposts in spots including Las Vegas, is known for large servings of pasta and other Italian dishes.
The restaurant has been following the city's rule requiring proof of vaccination for indoor restaurant dining, which has been in effect since August 17 but is only just being enforced as of this week.
Bank, the CEO of the restaurant group of which Carmine's is a part, said the host who was assaulted had offered the women a seat outdoors after they did not produce satisfactory proof of vaccination.
'We follow the laws,' Bank said at a news conference outside the restaurant. 'I respect the vaccine mandate. We have an option, if you´re not vaccinated, sit outside.'
He said Thursday's altercation started with a verbal dispute and escalated quickly.
'It's ridiculous that she's sitting here saying, "Please don't assault me." It's just surreal,' Bank said.
He said there would be security at the restaurant's host stand Friday.
'Of course we're going to have security tonight,' Bank said. 'We want everyone to feel safe. Is it necessary? I don't know, but after last night for sure we're going to have it.'
The restaurant had put up signs at the end of August informing customers of its policy
It is unclear how strictly the requirement that restaurants check vaccination status is being enforced in New York City.
An Inside Edition investigation found that 11 of the 15 restaurants they randomly checked were not enforcing the city's policy on Thursday.
When producers visited an eatery on the Upper East Side, they were seated indoors right away – with no questions asked.
At another popular East Side restaurant called Burger-Fi, the restaurant allowed a producer to order and eat indoors without showing any proof of vaccination - despite the restaurant having signs which read 'show me your vax.'
Producers returned the following day and spoke to a manager.
'We did have a producer come by last night who was able to sit inside, and he said he wasn't asked for proof of vaccine card or anything,' said Inside Edition's Ann Mercogliano.
During a recent investigation, it was discovered that 11 out of 15 New York City restaurants were not enforcing the city's proof-of-vaccine mandate despite the city's aggressive step to curb a surge in COVID-19 cases
At another popular East Side restaurant called Burger-Fi, the restaurant allowed a producer to order and eat indoors without showing any proof of vaccination - despite the restaurant having signs which read 'show me your vax.'
Of the fifteen restaurants INIDE EDITION producers visited, 11 did not enforce proof of vaccination and a matching form of ID for restaurant indoor dining
'I'm shocked. I'm really shocked right now, because I know that I've been asking everyone,' the manager responded.
But not every restaurant violated New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's proof-of-vaccine mandate.
At SoHo's Mercer Kitchen, staff members did everything by the book.
When a hostess asked the investigative producer for proof-of-vaccine at the door, he told the hostess he was vaccinated, but didn't have his card on him.
'Unfortunately,' said the hostess. 'If we don't have proof, we can't seat you inside. It's New York law.'
The Associated Press has also sent out a request for information about the number of citations that have been issued was sent to the office of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
At least 60 per cent of all eligible New York City resident are fully vaccinated, according to the NYC Department of Health.
As enforcement of New York City's vaccine mandate loomed Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was reluctant to fine businesses that do not follow vaccine checks for patrons
Enforcement of the policy comes as nearly 60 percent of city residents have been vaccinated
Another incident involving masking and vaccine mandates for indoor diners broke in California on Thursday when a drunken woman attacked a restaurant worker for not wearing a mask.
The woman, branded a 'Karen,' was herself maskless when she attacked a restaurant supervisor and demanded she wear a mask and let her check her vaccination card.
A male staff member attempts to intervene but the woman walked round the counter, grabbed a handful of mints from the counter and threw them at the woman.
Karen seemed to be intoxicated as she slurred her words and stumbled around the restaurant, telling the woman 'you don't f***ing deserve your f***ing job.'
She then asked the unmasked worker if she's been vaccinated, shouting at her that she 'has a mandate and a responsibility to have your f***ing mask on'.
Karen then hit another staff member and grappled with her after she tried to intervene
This is the moment an allegedly drunk woman attacks a California restaurant worker for not wearing a mask
Karen repeatedly demanded to see the woman's vaccine card as she stomped around the restaurant pointing at the woman.
Karen demanded that the supervisor wear a mask and when no one responded to her commands, Karen grabbed a bottle of cleaning spray off the counter and sprayed it in the worker's face.
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