A Black Lives Matter organizer has pledged a national 'uprising' over COVID vaccine mandates, claiming they are 'racist,' as cities around the country begin to demand proof of vaccination for most indoor activities.
Chivona Newsome, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, made the vow on Monday as NYC restaurants begin enforcing legislation requiring all people aged 12 and older to show proof of vaccination to dine inside.
'We're putting this city on notice... Black people are not going to stand by, or you will see an uprising. And that is not a threat. That is a promise,' Newsome declared.
Her threat comes as data shows black New York City residents are less likely to have received the COVID jab than their white counterparts - with 38 percent of black New Yorkers fully vaccinated compared to 49 percent of whites.
Newsome was speaking outside Carmine's - an Italian restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side - where three black women from Texas were arrested for attacking a hostess after members of their group were refused entry because they did not have proof of vaccination.
Newsome joined a protest of 40 people outside Carmine's, where she stated: '72 percent of black people in this city from ages 18 to 44 are unvaccinated,' she declared.
'So what is going to stop the Gestapo, I mean the NYPD, from rounding up black people, from snatching them off the train, off the bus? ... The vaccination passport is not a free passport to racism.'
Chivona Newsome, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, has pledged an 'uprising' over the city's COVID vaccine mandate, claiming it is 'racist'
Surveillance footage also shows the outdoor area where the brawl broke out last week at the famed New York City eatery
The arrested tourists had accused an Asian hostess of using the n-word, though the restaurant vehemently denied any racial slur was hurled before the melee.
Owner Jeffrey Bank told ABC 7: 'Three women brutally attacked our hosts without provocation, got arrested and charged for their misconduct, and then, over the last several days, had their lawyer falsely and grossly misrepresent their acts of wanton violence in a cynical attempt to try to excuse the inexcusable'.
'My team members work too hard to serve our guests, work too hard to comply with New York's vaccination requirements, and still suffer too much from the attack for me to allow these false statements to stand.'
Footage of the protest was captured by FNTV, and showed one BLM protester making anti-gay slurs.
Black Women's March co-founder Kimberly Bernard was also present at the event, according to The Daily Wire, where she stated: 'We are serving notice on the mayor, on the governor, on the restaurant industry.'
She added: 'We will not allow for you to use this pandemic, vaccination cards, and masks as another reason to be racist, to put us in prison - because there's enough of us in there!'
Newsome joined a protest of 40 people at Carmine's, where she stated: 'Seventy-two percent of black people in this city from ages 18 to 44 are unvaccinated,' she declared
Earlier this week, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the waitress at the center of the scandal had only been working at Carmine's for a few days before she was assaulted by the three women.
The waitress has not been publicly named. Her assailants have been identified as Kaeita Rankin, 44, her niece Tyonnie Keshay Rankin and Sally Rechelle Lewis, 49.
Meanwhile, the restaurant shared the surveillance footage, taken from both inside the entrance to the restaurant and the outdoor area where the brawl broke out last week, after Black Lives Matter protesters accused the restaurant of intentionally keeping it under wraps.
Meanwhile, the restaurant shared the surveillance footage, taken from both inside the entrance to the restaurant and the outdoor area where the brawl broke out last week
It shows the three women entering the restaurant as part of a larger party. They are escorted inside the restaurant after showing their proof of COVID-19 vaccination while three men in their party - who do not have proof and show up shortly after - remain outside.
The hostess passes the group, with the four women at the back of the group suddenly stopping and turning in her direction as though something has been said.
At this moment, the women rush outside with what happened next captured on the now-infamous bystander footage shot outside.
There is no audio in the footage so it is unclear if there was an exchange of words between the diners and the hostess and - if there was - what was said.
A Black Lives Matter protester holds a sign near the entrance to Carmine's restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Monday
Hawk Newsome (left), a co-founder of BLM's New York chapter, speaks during the protest
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