Video shows NYC man accused of punching woman at Pride event was acting in self defense, attorney says
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NEW YORK, NY (WCBS) — The attorney for a Manhattan banker accused of punching a woman at a Brooklyn Pride event says additional video of the incident shows Jonathan Kaye was acting in self defense.
Kaye, 52, turned himself into police Monday and was charged with assault and menacing in the third degree and harassment in the second degree.
“Our client, Jonathan Kaye, was wrongly charged, based on a curated video published by professional agitators seeking to destroy him professionally and personally. New video has now emerged that clearly shows, moment by moment, what occurred on June 8th. These videos show more context prior to the incident for which our client was charged. To look at this video is to understand that this was a vicious, hate-fueled group attack on Jonathan Kaye, and that he was entitled to defend himself,” Kaye’s attorney E. Danya Perry said in a statement Tuesday.
Perry has not shared the video she referred to in her statement.
Monday night, the woman who was punched said the charges against Kaye were not tough enough. The woman, named Micah, said Kaye broke her nose in four places and she’s been in recovery.
“A severe concussion that I’m still experiencing. Back pain. A black eye,” she said.
Micah, 38, told CBS New York’s Naveen Dhaliwal that she was at a Brooklyn Pride event in Park Slope on June 8 when Kaye walked by and began calling her and her friends names.
“He called us useful idiots,” Micah said.
When the group responded, Micah says Kaye walked toward her.
“I splashed water on him to kind of stop him, and he kind of lost it,” she said. “He could’ve killed us.”
Micah said she wanted stiffer charges.
“His charges should be severe enough to impact his future decisions,” she said.
In the aftermath of the altercation, Kaye resigned his position at Moelis & Co.
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