MANHATTAN — Surveillance video from a Lower East Side club where a group of people was arrested for allegedly assaulting police during a concert this summer shows that cops initiated the incident, a lawyer for the group said Tuesday.
The five people arrested during the incident — who were hit with charges ranging from assault and rioting to resisting arrest — appeared before a judge Tuesday, but were not indicted on the charges, defense attorney Kenneth Montgomery said.
He contended that video recordings from the venue, Tammany Hall at 152 Orchard St., will support his argument that police officers stormed inside the concert venue and dragged one of the defendants off stage, sparking the melee.
“It shows what the police did, how they were unprovoked,” said Montgomery, who has not seen the tape himself but said the Manhattan District Attorney’s is working to get him a copy.
Montgomery said he alerted the judge about the tape's existence on Tuesday to make sure it went on the record.
The incident unfolded just after midnight on June 29 outside the club, where police were called to respond to overcrowding inside the space during a record release party for rappers Pete Rock and Smif N Wessun, the NYPD said.
A fracas then erupted between police and partygoers — with much of it caught on tape — leaving five officers hospitalized with various injuries and the five individuals arrested on a host of charges.
The NYPD stated that officers arrived at the location after getting a call from security at the club to help with an unruly crowd of more than two-dozen, according to the NYPD's top spokesman, Paul Browne.
He added that one partygoer who refused to leave the venue and resisted arrest yelled for others to help him fight the officers, leading a large crowd to form and begin scuffling with police.
The five officers who were hospitalized suffered injuries ranging from a broken nose and broken front tooth to facial lacerations and head contusions, the NYPD added.
Gabriel Diaz, 27, Lewis Pena, 35, Cynthia Rosa, 21, and Jade Everette, 24, were all arraigned on assault charges, and Jessy Ayala, 32, was arraigned on charges of obstruction of governmental administration for refusing to move while videotaping the incident, according to the criminal complaints.
Ayala’s case was adjourned to Nov. 17, while the rest of the defendants’ cases were adjourned to Dec. 14, Montgomery said.
The individuals, dubbed the “Monumental Five,” have denied any wrongdoing in the dustup and rallied on the steps of City Hall in July, accusing police of using excessive force.
However, Montgomery said surveillance will show police provoking the crowd by pulling his client Pena out of the venue and beating him on the street.
“This tape was compelling in that regard,” he said. “Especially for Mr. Pena. They clearly assaulted him.”
