New York man hospitalized after starting racially-based confrontation

A New York City man was hospitalized after allegedly instigating a confrontation by hurling racist slurs at two black restaurant patrons on Friday.

WCBS-TV reported that the altercation took place at a Greenwich Village restaurant after the unidentified victim, described by witnesses as being drunk at the time, knocked into a table occupied by an African-American couple.

According to the New York Post, the man did not listen to demands by restaurant staff that he leave the establishment, instead choosing to approach 25-year-old Douglas Reddish.

The New York Daily News reported that the man also reportedly yelled, "You ni-gers are why I lost my job" at the couple, and "This ni-ger wants to fight me" at Reddish in particular, allegedly leading to Reddish punching the man and knocking him to the ground causing him to hit his head on the sidewalk. Reddish was arrested a few blocks away from the scene and charged with assault.

"He was out cold. I thought he was dead," an employee told the Post.

One witness who reportedly spoke to the man before the confrontation turned physical told authorities the victim was complaining about losing his job at Goldman Sachs, but a company spokesperson told the Post they had no record of the victim working there.

[h/t Gothamist]

[Image: "Very Angry Man" via Shutterstock]