Former Moelis employee Jonathan Kaye was charged Monday with two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of third-degree menacing and two counts of second-degree harassment, weeks after the banker was filmed punching a woman in the face after a Pride event in Brooklyn.
A 10-second clip of the incident — beginning with the punch — went viral. But lawyers for both the plaintiffs and the defendant submitted longer videos Monday in Brooklyn Criminal Court with an eye toward context.
A 51-second clip submitted by plaintiffs’ lawyer Ron Kuby shows Kaye walking on a sidewalk toward a group, which throws a liquid on him.
“Did you throw s--- on me?” Kaye asks.
A person replies that the substance is water. Then, a red liquid is thrown.
Kaye then appears to try to evade the group as it continues to follow him down the sidewalk, where he appears to shove one person into the street and punch another.
“Terrified and injured, Mr. Kaye managed to act in self-defense to escape the situation and return safely to his family,” the banker’s lawyer, Danya Perry, said in a statement seen by the New York Post.
“These agitators formed a ring at him, doused him with two unknown liquids, shoved him to the ground, and hurled antisemitic slurs at him,” Perry said, according to the Financial Times.
Kuby said his clients didn’t make any antisemitic comments and that the red liquid was Gatorade, according to Bloomberg.
The criminal complaint, meanwhile, asserts Kaye intended to cause physical injury and “place another person in fear of death.”
A source close to Kaye told the New York Post last month the banker was surrounded by a group protesting Israel’s military action in Gaza.
“Jonathan simply said something along the lines of, ‘You guys are on the wrong side,’” the source told the Post.
In a television interview last month, Micah Phillips, a plaintiff in the case who said she was the woman punched in the original clip, said she wants Kaye “to be a better person after this.”
Phillips’ nose was broken in four places, Kuby said Monday, according to Bloomberg.
“I want him to take anger management. I want him to get therapy,” she told New York City’s NBC4. “I want him to not be in a position of power until he’s able to be a better member of the community.”
Kaye faces up to a year in jail on the third-degree assault charges, and up to 90 days on the third-degree menacing charge. Second-degree harassment carries up to 15 days in jail.
Kaye is set to appear again in court Aug. 23. But as he was leaving Monday’s arraignment, four protesters met Kaye and his attorney and followed him in the street, calling him a wife beater, according to the New York Post.
One allegedly tried to shove Kaye from behind and shoved his lawyer instead. The protesters then got into a van and left the scene, according to the outlet.
Kaye was placed on leave from Moelis on June 10, the first weekday after the incident. He had left Moelis permanently as of June 24.
Of the court matter, Perry said, “We are hopeful that the district attorney will fully and fairly consider these facts, along with the surge of antisemitic acts, protests and attacks that are ravaging our city.
“We will aggressively fight injustice, and we look forward to a full vindication for our client,” Perry said.
