Maurkice Pouncey and his brother Mike were out on the town last night. The two were partying at the Cameo night club in Miami’s South Beach neighborhood, where the brothers were holding their annual birthday bash.
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The twins celebrate their July 24th birthday together early due to football obligations. Around this time last year, the Pouncey twins made headlines by being photographed wearing “Free Hernandez” hats at the same nightclub.
Last night’s alleged incident may potentially have greater consequences for the Steelers center though, if his accusers allegations prove true. According to the victim, who goes by the name Ricky Vasquez on his social media accounts, both Pouncey brothers physically assaulted him before 4 security guards came and threw him out. A female companion who was with the alleged victim corroborated his account, and claims that she was also assaulted by- specifically- Maurkice Pouncey. Vasquez describes himself on Twitter as “Event Host. Choreographer. Stylist. TeaOlogist. Free Spirit. Socialite.”
There is also another layer to this story, in that the alleged victim is said to be openly gay, and according to him, gay slurs were hurled while he was being assaulted. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence, but it’s worth mentioning that the name Ricky Vasquez is also the name of a character on the show My So Called Life. On the show, Vasquez battles with gender issues and is the subject of gay bullying. (H/T to my wife.)
The alleged incident occurred somewhere shortly after 4:00 AM Saturday morning. The man who claims he was assaulted took to his Twitter and Instagram accounts shortly after the incident to share his story. Here are some of those postings:
*Warning* The language in the posts and video clips below may be offensive to some readers. You’ve been warned.
https://twitter.com/iAmRickyVasquez/statuses/487882374517362688
https://twitter.com/iAmRickyVasquez/statuses/487882405861421056
https://twitter.com/iAmRickyVasquez/statuses/487884349166354432
https://twitter.com/iAmRickyVasquez/statuses/487886010467254272
https://twitter.com/iAmRickyVasquez/statuses/487888435806736384
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Here’s some transcription of what Vasquez was saying in his Instagram videos.
“I didn’t know that stuff like this actually f**ing happens to people…All I can remember is standing in a crowded club and this big guy keeps hitting me in my back, I look at him and I’m like, OK, he’s obviously turned up. And he just keeps hitting me. I ignore it. I keep ignoring the guy — he’s calling me a faggot. I realize that there’s two of the guys. Now they’re both in my face. The next thing I know, Honey tries to break it up. One of them punches Honey in the face, the other one punches me or the same one, I don’t know. Security comes.”
Here is a collage the woman he refers to as Honey posted to her instagram account.
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The caption of one of Honey’s social media postings read, “Went inside @Cameomia 10 minutes just to be punched in my face by Marquise [sic] Pouncey for trying to stop him and his brother mike from beating the shit out of my friend @irickyvasquez. Filed a report even though the Police said nothing probably will be done about this situation. These athletes get on all these f**kin drugs and act an ass knowing they will be protected by these clubs because of how much money they spend in their clubs but I’m not gonna let this shit rest. I’m a female and I won’t Stand for no man putting their hands on me.”
According to Miami Beach Police spokespeople, they are indeed aware of the situation.”There was an incident that occurred at Cameo last night at 4:20 a.m., where an alleged assault took place,” Miami Beach Police Sgt. Bobby Hernandez told New Times.”We have not confirmed it’s the Pouncey brothers that are the subjects, but we are going to have detectives contacting the victims to investigate further.”
As with any story, one should definitely exercise caution before passing judgement. We’re only hearing one side of this story so far, but as the weekend progresses, I imagine more details will emerge.