A bystander at a bar in Nashville, Tennessee, recorded a crowd of people fighting over the weekend in the Broadway area of downtown, which has seen increasing rates of assaults and homelessness in recent years.
“This is very tame for us,” Jason Steen, executive editor of local Scoop Media Group, told Fox News Digital. “We have these every weekend. This was just interesting to us for the costumes.”
“Broadway is a complete brawl these days, better than Vegas,” Steen said. “One of our guys happened to be in front of Nashville Underground watching the public intoxication arrests when it happened, and he just grabbed it on his phone quickly.”
The video depicts a group of people outside the bar jostling and clawing at each other while some of them were wearing costumes. One woman who was wearing a fairy outfit seemingly bumped into another woman, who was knocked backwards into a sign.
NASHEVILLE OFFICER SUFFERS HEAD INJURY WHILE ARRESTING INTOXICATED MAN WEILDING BOX CUTTER, POLICE SAY
The Broadway area of downtown Nashville has seen rising rates of assaults, harassment and aggressive panhandling in recent years, which prompted the city last spring to work on a plan to tackle issues surrounding homelessness, according to local Fox affiliate WZTV.
NASHEVILLE MAN CHARGED AFTER 52-YEAR-OLD MAN HE CRITICALLY BEAT WITH METAL PIPE DIES: POLICE
William McKinley, a shift leader at a local BBQ restaurant, told the outlet in April that he had lately seen more homeless people coming into his business.
“It’s definitely increased the last year or so since COVID,” McKinley told the outlet.
The night view of Lower Broadway at the Broadway National Register Historic District in Nashville, Tennessee.
(Bruce Yuanyue Bi via Getty Images)
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) told WZTV that they instituted an Entertainment District Initiative, which provides an additional 70 officers in the corridor from Thursday to Sunday nights.
Burgess Clark, a local who lives near Broadway and told the local outlet that he sometimes feels unsafe in the area after dark, said there should be increased police presence every night.
Neon signs in the landmark Broadway pub district in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
(benedek via Getty Images)
“The police presence is here when there’s hockey or a concert, you can definitely see that there’s a lot more officers down here. During the week there’s not many,” he said at the time.
Fox News’ Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
