Footage of a Black woman being brutally attacked by a male employee of a pizza parlor in Pittsburgh, PA has now resulted in the man’s arrest.
A viral video clip posted to social media over the weekend shows Pizza Milano employee Mahmut Yilmaz engaged in a heated verbal altercation with customer Jade Martin on Friday evening. In the beginning of the nearly 3-minute video, the 41-year-old man is seen face-to-face with Martin inside of the establishment near the door, where he is heard demanding that she leave the restaurant. As Martin instead attempts to walk away in the opposite direction, Yilmaz forcefully snatches her by her arm and throws her up against the door frame, before slamming her body into a nearby group of tables and chairs and ultimately onto the restaurant floor. While continuing to scream in a fit of rage as Martin attempts to free herself from his grasp, Yilmaz then positions himself on top of her and begins repeatedly banging her head against the floor.
Martin, a mother of two young children, was later treated for her injuries at a local hospital. At no point in the video did she put her hands on Yilmaz prior to his shocking attack on her.
On Saturday evening, a group of over 20 protestors gathered outside the restaurant, demanding answers and calling for justice.
According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Yilmaz has seen been arrested and charged with one count of aggravated assault, as well as one count of simple assault. Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto released an official statement late Saturday evening confirming the arrest and proclaiming that the city “will not tolerate violence against women and that we will work as a community to protect all women, and notably African American women, from physical and emotional violence.”
The Coalition for the Safety of Black Women and Girls has called for a full investigation into the incident, while community activists are reportedly planning a larger protest to take in place in the city on Monday, in light of the disturbing assault occurring just days before the national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.