Dozens of protesters gathered outside of an East Flatbush nail salon in Brooklyn, N.Y., demanding that the business be closed after viral video spread of employees, who are Asian, attacking a black woman with the handle of a broomstick or a mop and even spraying what appears to be acetone nail polish remover
The New Red Apple Nail at 1426 Nostrand Ave. was surrounded by an influx of frustrated black residents, several holding signs that read “Black $$$ Matters” as they chanted “black dollars matter” and “No respect, no business,” Pix11 reports.
The entire incident started over the weekend with Christina Thomas, 21, who had gone to the salon with her grandmother to get a mani-pedi, as well as an eyebrow wax. Thomas was not satisfied with the job done on her eyebrows, and so she declined to pay for the botched service, News12 notes. Employees argued that she also refused to pay for the other services as well. That was when an argument broke out, only to soon escalate into the terrifying brawl.
In the now viral video, several Asian employees can be seen grabbing a black woman, while another sprays her with the bottle of nail polish remover. When the woman breaks free, another Asian woman starts to hit her repeatedly on the back with the handle of a mop or broomstick as the woman flees the salon.
The worker with the broom then turns her attention to another black woman, striking her with the broom as well.
“So I’m at the nail salon and they fucked up a lady eyebrow and she refused to pay then a fight broke outttt,” Facebook user Mercy Maduka, who recorded the incident wrote under her post, “1426 Nostrand ave Hitting them like animals.”
“It is blatant disrespect,” another protester Chase Andy told NBC New York. “It is disgusting that they can treat our people in this manner.”
Employee Huiyue Zheng is facing charges of misdemeanor menacing, misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon and harassment after she allegedly beat Thomas with the broom causing a laceration to the back of her neck, Pix 11 notes.
Thomas is also facing charges of misdemeanor assault, misdemeanor menacing and harassment. According to the report, she is accused of punching and slapping someone.
Protesters demanded that the charges against Thomas be dropped, according to News12, as well as argued for the other employees to be arrested.
“There is no respect for people in this neighborhood,” Gavin Gibbs, a 49-year-old East Flatbush resident, said to the New York Daily News. “Anytime a store doesn’t respect us, we’re going to shut it down. We will come, we will picket it and we’ll do whatever we have to close your store down.”
The 1426 location closed for the rest of the day, but protesters continued their march, headed to another salon that has a similar name on 1224, claiming that the stores were affiliated.
“I’m expecting justice, but most of all I’m expecting black people to learn that when these businesses don’t respect you, you don’t spend your money with them,” one protester, Tionna Smalls, told ABC7 New York.