A harrowing video showing a group of nail salon employees attacking a black family in Brooklyn, New York has gone viral with many calling for the establishment to be shut down.
The video was shared on Friday (Aug 3) by a woman named Mercy Maduka, who was at the New Red Apple Nails on East Flatbush’s Nostrand Avenue when the attack happened around 9:30 pm EST. Witnesses claim a group of women reportedly comprised of four women paid for manicures and pedicures, but a botched eyebrow job on woman lead to an argument. After the group refused the $5 fee for the service, employees blocked the entrance and held down one of the women.
The video shows what happened next, with several women attacking one customer with chairs and brooms. After one of the victims managed to escape, one of the broom-holders attacks another woman. In the official complaint reported by The New York Post, the employees claimed the customer slapped and dragged an employee across the floor. However, witnesses claim that happened after the employee grabbed her arms. There were also claims that the women were dosed with acetone, a solvent used to remove acrylic-based nails.
Employee Huiyue Zheng, 32, was charged with assault and weapon possession and was released on her own recognizance after a hearing at Brooklyn Criminal Court. Customer Christina Thomas was charged with misdemeanor assault and also released on her own recognizance.
“It felt like I was in a movie,” the grandmother told local news outlet, News12 Brooklyn. “They had their sticks and it felt like a horror movie.”
Scene outside the New Red Apple Nail Salon on 1426 #Nostrand Avenue. Community calling for additional arrests, and a new chant—“no nails no toes” after employees got into a physical argument with customers over a five dollar eyebrow wax. pic.twitter.com/7t2qsY5LYZ
— Sabrina Franza (@sabrinafranza) August 6, 2018
BREAKING: right now, 100+ ppl rallying outside Brooklyn nail salon after video goes viral of salon employee beating black woman with broomstick..@ChasingNews @My9NJ @fox5ny pic.twitter.com/PTzPZxxYe5
— Nate Rodgers (@NateWants2Know) August 6, 2018
No other arrests have been in the incident. The investigation is still ongoing.
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