The couple suing Matt Barnes and DeMarcus Cousins of the NBA's Sacramento Kings after a New York nightclub altercation have spoken publicly for the first time, and have shown photos of their injuries.
Jasmine Besiso and boyfriend Myrone Powell appeared at their lawyer's office on Thursday to issue a statement about the federal lawsuit they filed against the NBA players on Wednesday.
The suit says the couple was attacked Monday at a nightclub in Chelsea. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
It says Barnes choked Besiso by the neck and Powell intervened. It adds Cousins punched Powell and Barnes knocked Besiso unconscious with his elbow.
"I'm outraged and disgusted by what has happened to me," Besiso said.
The lawsuit says, after Besiso was knocked unconcious, Barnes and Cousins then punched and kicked Powell. The couple was taken to a hospital. No one was arrested.
With his face still bruised and swollen, Powell showed photos of his face directly after the alleged attack.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNpVx6ZjcQm"I'm disgusted by grown men bragging about beating up on a lone male," he said.
The lawsuit comes after TMZSports, which obtained video of the aftermath of the alleged attack, reported Barnes choked a woman, though he later told the site that he accidentally bumped her, and she reacted by slapping him in the face.
That's when her group and Barnes and his friends began fighting, he told TMZSports. He said he was knocked to the ground and choked.
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In an Instagram post Monday, Barnes said there are "always two sides to a story."
A lawyer for both players says he doesn't believe a crime was committed though the players are cooperating with police.
There is a criminal investigation underway, but no charges so far.
