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Cops: Columbia Prof Punched Woman In "White Privilege" Brawl
By
Ben Muessig
Published Nov 10, 2009
Modified Nov 10, 2009
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Nov 10, 2009
Modified Nov 10, 2009
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Police arrested a Columbia University architecture professor suspected of punching a female colleague in the face in a racially charged bar brawl on Friday. Professor Lionel McIntyre, 59, allegedly struck Camille Davis, a production manager in Columbia's theater department, after arguing with her and another man about "white privilege" in Toast on Broadway and 125th Street.
According to the Post, at around 10:30 pm, McIntyre, who is black, shoved Davis, who is white. When a bar employee tried to separate the two, the architecture professor punched Davis in the face. "The punch was so loud, the kitchen workers in the back heard it over all the noise," bar back Richie Velez, 28, said. "I was on my way over when he punched Camille and she fell on top of me."
When another bar patron, who is white, scolded McIntyre for punching a woman, the professor took a swing at him as well, the tabloid reports. "He knocked the glasses right off my face," said the man, identified by only his first name, Shannon. "The punch came out of nowhere. Mac was talking to us about white privilege and what I was doing about it — apparently I wasn't doing enough."
According to police reports obtained by the Columbia Spectator, Davis suffered "bruising and redness in the right eye.” The Post reports that McIntyre — who once served as co-liaison for an organization called the "People to People Friendship Delegation" — and the victim had argued about race in the past. McIntyre was released without bail at his arraignment last night and told the paper: "It was a very unfortunate event. I didn't mean for it to explode the way it did."
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