The owners of a Washington, D.C., bar said Monday that they are investigating a weekend incident in which security guards were seen dragging a Black woman down a staircase and throwing her out of the bar.
Nellie’s Sports Bar’s owners also said on Facebook that they have “terminated, with immediate effect, the independent security vendor hired to protect our guests during Pride Week.”
Video posted on social media early Sunday shows a bouncer dragging the woman — identified by local media as Keisha Young, 22 — down the stairs as observers scream, “Oh my God!” Some patrons are then seen fighting with the guards.
Young is a student at Morgan State, according to an online fundraising page she has set up. Efforts to reach Young were unsuccessful.
On a video call Monday with her lawyer, Young said: “I feel like, even just separating race from it, no man should ever handle a woman in that way. That should never be OK,” according to Washington’s WRC-TV.
A crowd gathered outside Nellie’s Sunday night to protest Young’s treatment. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday: “Obviously, entrepreneurs enforce rules in their restaurants. But they’re not allowed to assault anybody.”
Nellie’s owners said it “will be closed this week as we evaluate this regrettable situation,” and they vowed to cooperate with any law enforcement investigation.
“No matter what behavior occurred prior, nothing warrants mistreating, and disrespecting, one of our guests,” the owners said.