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Several bouncers from Jay-Z's 40/40 Club in Atlantic City, N.J. were suspended last week for their part in a melee with club patrons. Now, one of those bouncers is speaking out for the first time.
"We feared for our safety," said bouncer Ivan "Shaq" Ramos. “We’re not brutes, we’re not bullies,” he said.
So did the bouncers go over the top while trying to control the men?
“I don’t think it was excessive,” Ramos said.
The incident happened after problems began inside the club when a pair of men acted belligerent and refused to leave, said Ramos. After being ejected, Ramos said one of the men tried to grab a metal barricade and another swung at a co-worker bouncer.
The brawl, which was caught on tape by witnesses, happened outside the popular Atlantic Avenue hot spot in the early morning hours of Nov. 28.
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In the video, club goers are repeatedly pummeled by as many as 13 staffers in a rear parking lot. The victims were later arrested for disorderly conduct.
It originally appeared that only two men were beaten but another man came forward last week alleging that he was also beat up.
Ramos insisted there were only two guys. But, a third man, Bryant Norwood filed lawsuit against the club last week alleging that he was “on the ground being kicked,” said his lawyer Thomas Mallon.
The men -- Tyrell Durant, 26, Norwood, 27 and Leonard Clark, 25 -- say they were allegedly beaten without cause.
“If you didn’t do anything wrong you’d still been in the club that night,” said Ramos.
The 40/40 Club offered little comment on the attack, claiming the incident was provoked after Durant struck a bouncer.
Several bouncers involved were told they were suspended pending the investigation -- not fired as some originally reported, according to an attorney for the club.
That didn’t sit well with Ramos. “We were protecting your club,” the bouncer said who claims he also lost jobs at two other area clubs because of the incident.
Requests for comment from the club's publicist were not originally returned.
