A man who said he was brutally beaten by bouncers at a gay club in Houston over the weekend is speaking out about the incident.
Norman Reggie Houston Jr., a local party promoter, said the assault occurred at Hamburger Mary’s in Downtown Houston. On Tuesday, he told the local Fox affiliate he had gone to the popular drag-themed restaurant and bar with some friends.
When they were about to leave, the bar’s security guards asked them to wait. Houston said he jokingly grabbed a bottle of alcohol by the bar while the group waited.
He said he never drank from the bottle, adding that he quickly put it back down.
“Probably not even a few minutes later I saw an African American male…really buff with long hair coming at me with two other guys. The only thing I remember, the words he said were, ‘You said something to my sister?’ Then he hit me and that’s all I remember,” Houston said.
A shocking video circulating on social media appears to show one bouncer holding Houston in a chokehold, while another is seen punching him.
The altercation left the victim with a broken leg, an injured throat, and bloody and bruised eyes.
“It’s hard to even think about it,” Houston said of the incident.
Houston, who said he was punched 11 times, insists he was never aggressive with the security staff. “Anyone there can tell you that’s just not what happened at all, like they came charging with an agenda,” he told Fox 26.
His attorney, Carl A. Moore, said he plans to work with the Houston Police Department and the district attorney’s office to ensure criminal charges are filed in addition to civil charges.
Hamburger Mary’s Houston didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.