Muse Bouncers Charged After Violent Brawl

Charges have been filed against two bouncers at The Muse following a late-night brawl outside the bar on Surfside Road that occurred back in July between the security team and patrons.

Criminal complaints were issued last week against two suspects involved in the incident: one who will be charged with two counts of felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and a single charge of assault and battery; and a second suspect who will be charged with assault and battery. Their names have not been released by police, and they are expected to be arraigned in Nantucket District Court in December.

The Muse owner Mike O’Reilly told the Current that the members of the security team involved remain employed at the bar, and have gone through additional training and safety procedures following the incident.

“I’m pretty upset about the whole situation and everything that transpired,” O’Reilly said. “But, charges are happening to the staff and I’m sticking by them. I don’t approve of anything that happened and can’t let them go through this by themselves. The guys just came to work and a situation broke out. As you know it got out of hand. The guys from Georgia got out of control and I think charges will be brought against them as well. Unfortunately this incident happened but we had time to regroup and go through training and safety procedures for all.”

Police were not called to The Muse when the brawl occurred during the early morning hours of July 9th, but video of the melee started circulating almost immediately after the incident, prompting the Nantucket Police Department to launch an investigation. It’s unclear why charges were not filed until more than three months after the fight.

The video - which starts in the middle of the fight - shows members of the security team punching and kicking three men outside The Muse, and the men also assaulting the bouncers. It’s not clear what happened before the recording or what prompted the security team to respond in the way it did.

There is “more to the story than the video,” O’Reilly added.

A witness told the Current “I just know that everything started inside with two drunk people and then everything continued outside.”

Video link below (warning: graphic scenes. To view you must be logged into a YouTube account and over the age of 18).