Five people were arrested, five officers injured during Smif-n-Wessun's album release party on Tuesday.
By Rob Markman
Smif-n-Wessun
Photo: MTV News
It was all love, according to Brooklyn, New York, rap group Smif-n-Wessun and their producer Pete Rock. That was until the police came and busted up the group's album-release party in Manhattan on Tuesday night.
"It was beautiful, man. Me and my wife and my family walked up in there, everybody giving us love, pounds, they're happy I'm in the house," Pete Rock said of the scene at Tammany Hall, the club where Smif-n-Wessun performed and held an album-release party for their new LP, Monumental, released on Duck Down Records.
According to Rock, the night went smoothly as he, Tek and Steele (the two rappers who make up the group Smif-n-Wessun) performed songs from their new album in front of the sold-out crowd. For the group, the first signs of trouble arose when the club's house lights came on. "We noticed two cops came in when the lights came on. Then they went back out, then they came back in," Pete Rock recalled.
The legendary hip-hop producer, who has crafted hits for Kanye West, Busta Rhymes and Mary J. Blige, then saw his friend Lewis Peña being assaulted by the police. "Like four or five cops threw him against the wall, beat him with the stick, punching him with closed fist, had him on the ground beating him motionless with their sticks and it was just crazy. It just got crazy," he said.
Rock witnessed his wife and stepdaughter being hit by police as well. Peña, his stepdaughter Jade Everette, and three others were arrested that night. All five of the individuals arrested by police were later released on their own recognizance, MTV News has confirmed with the rap group's attorney.
Five officers were injured during the melee, one with cuts on his neck, one with a broken nose, one with a broken tooth and two with contusions to the head, according to MSNBC.com.
In a statement issued to MTV News, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly justified the officer's actions that night: "Police officers had every right to defend themselves against individuals assaulting them, and used appropriate force in doing so. They also protected civilians who were being pelted with bottles at the outset, as they responded to the location at the request of the club's own security."
Steele, who witnessed the drama inside of the club unfold from the stage, tells a drastically different story. "That party, it was flawless. It was flawless, it was packed. I personally was under the impression that security had everything taken care of," he said. "I was totally not aware of anything that might have happened outside. As far as inside, it was all smiles; it was all smiles and fun."
That was until he saw Peña, who was onstage with the group earlier, being beaten by the cops. "My initial response to that was, 'What is my friend doing on the floor? This guy just stepped off the stage. Why is he on the floor?' " Steele told MTV News. "Their response was, 'Get the F back.'
"They pushed us back in the club, they maced him while he was on the floor, maced us back in the club. It was pandemonium."
From the outside of the club, fans documented the ruckus on camera phones and personal video devices. Many of the clips have since been uploaded to YouTube and other social-networking sites. Pete Rock and Smif-n-Wessun say that they were unaware of any drama and say that club patrons should have been forewarned by police and given a chance to exit in an orderly fashion. "Nobody came into the club, nobody said, 'Listen we're going to shut it down in a few minutes, everybody disperse,' " Steele said. "When we got that information, people were leaving. The police incited a riot by grabbing folks, by pushing folks out."
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666765/pete-rock-smif-n-wessun-nypd-riot.jhtml
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