A racially charged brawl broke out between a band and bar patrons at a watering hole in Atlanta — leaving several people injured, including a woman who was hospitalized.
Customers at Ideal Sports Bar in southeast Atlanta became agitated with a performing band after the members made politically charged, derogatory comments about white people, according to WSB-TV Atlanta.
Patrons turned into hecklers with one man yelling the “n-word” at black members of the band. The musicians then ditched the stage and a fight erupted among barstools and pool tables.
“Once the N-word was thrown out, I knew it was going to be pretty bad,” one white band member told the outlet in an on camera interview.
“I think they wanted to kill. They didn’t want to fight,” he added of the hecklers.
Surveillance video posted by Ideal Sports Bar shows a younger black guitarist in the band taunting an older white man who was standing near a pool table, watching the performance.
The two are separated by a group of mostly women and the performance continues.
It’s not clear who threw the first punch, but when the brawl broke out it swept up other barflies in the tornado of violence.
Video of the brouhaha shows patrons throwing punches and swinging pool sticks at each other’s heads.
One man grabs a woman who was dancing with the band. He becomes the center of a swirling skirmish, pinning the woman on the pool table and swinging his fists.
When he emerges from the tussle blood drips down his forehead.
One shieldmaiden is seen seemingly distributing the wooden weapons to those already engaged in fighting.
Some people grab chairs and threaten to throw them.
“I didn’t expect it to get as serious as it did. I didn’t expect that much violence,” the band member told WSB-TV.
Large spots of dark blood can be seen on the floor of the bar — with one woman being sent to the hospital with a gash on her head, according to the report.
“She had to get eight stitches in the back of her head,” one witness told the outlet.
In a statement posted on social media, the owners of Ideal Sports Bar apologized for the violence and the bigotry.
“In reviewing the circumstances surrounding this incident, it is clear that both parties contributed to the escalation. Emotions ran high, leading to unacceptable behavior on both sides,” Ideal Sports Bar wrote in a post on Instagram.
“We will be taking steps to include the screening of the bands we book as we will not condone lyrics that call for the killing of human beings.”
“There is no room for hate at the Ideal Sports Bar,” the statement added.
Owners of the bar say they are cooperating with the Atlanta Police Department and have banned all parties involved in causing the melee.
