Multiple Facebook posters suggested the brawl took place at an All Black Affair at the casino on December 5.
A video of a brawl at the Tunica Resorts Casino has been circulating on Facebook for the past 24 hours. The video was posted to Facebook by La’Mark Johnson. Since then, several thousand people have liked the video, while hundreds have made comment. In the clip, over a dozen people can be seen involved in the incident, though many appear to be breaking up the fight.
When contacted by Channel 3 News, the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware of the incident. The sheriffs office said it could not provide further information at the moment, but that it was investigating the incident. When more details about that investigation emerge, Legal US Poker Sites will update its information.
This is not the first casino brawl video to have emerged this year. A much bigger, more violent, and destructive brawl took place at Resorts World Queens earlier this year. Like this incident, video of the brawl quickly appeared on the Internet.
Details of the Brawl
As the video begins, a man in a blue shirt is throwing a punch, but is thrown to the ground near a bank of slot machines. As he falls, his baggy pants nearly fall off. A couple of men stand over him as he picks himself up, pulls up his pants, and appears to attack another person (who is off-camera).
The smartphone cam then pans to two young men who are standing nearby holding fountain drinks and watching the incident. They are smiling and laughing, telling the cameraman to, “Turn up. Turn up, baby. Turn up.”
The camera then turns to two women who are pushing and shoving. As roughly a half-dozen people pull them apart, one of them begins to posture as if she’s ready for the next round of fighting. Off to the side, the man in the blue shirt is seen locked up with a bigger man in a black shirt.
Official Mississippi All Black Affair
Numerous people on the Facebook thread speculated that the brawl took place during “The Official Mississippi All Black Affair”. They also seemed to know one of the people involved in the fight.
The All-Black Affair was hosted this year by Isaiah Bryant and six other people, listed as Shonari McCray, Kimberly Rayford, Jimmy Wagner, Cliff Foster, Jamarlon “Smurky” Fair, and Jamaal “Unprediktable” Jackson. Isaiah Bryant refers to his group as “The Committee”, whose official Facebook page links to pages called “The Joy Committee” and “The Welcoming Committee”.
Isaiah Bryant, an engineering student at the University of Memphis who refers to himself as “DJPlatinum DaEntertainer”, described the event on his own social media page. He said “Over 700 of the flyest and [most] sophisticated socialites will be in attendance for the most talked about event to ever touch the Mississippi Delta.”
Isaiah Bryant stated a strict dress code would be in effect, with no tennis shoes or athletic gear allowed. Discussion of the dress code might lead to the question: what is an all black affair?
What Is an All Black Affair?
All-black affairs are often confused with black-tie events, though they are not the same. In a black tie event, men need to wear black ties and women are supposed to wear evening dresses. At an all-black affair, people are allowed to wear a broader range of formal wear, though their clothing needs to be black. It is similar to the black-and-white affairs, in which a person has to wear either white, black, or a combination of the two.
Such events tend to be annual galas or charity events. Radio stations often throw them for young, trendy men and women. The Mississippi All Black Affair allowed all women over-21 and men over-25 to attend. One should not blame the organizers of the All Black Affair event held at the Tunica. If the brawl shown on Facebook involves people attending the Official Mississippi All Black Affair, then the man in the blue shirt in the video either would not have been in attendance at the event (because his shirt was blue), or else he would have been breaking the dress code.
Tunica Resorts Casino
Tunica Resorts Casino is a riverboat casino found in the “Casino Strip” area of Robinsonville (Tunica Resorts), Mississippi. The gaming venue was opened in 1994 by Harrah’s Entertainment. It continued to be owned and operated by Harrah’s Entertainment until 2005, when Harrah’s purchased Caesars Entertainment (and subsequently was renamed “Caesars Entertainment”).
Because the purchase would have given Harrah’s Entertainment 5 casinos in Tunica County, officials had concerns about competition. Tunica Resorts Casino and Bally’s were sold to Colony Capital. In 2011, Colony Capital sold the property to Foundation Gaming Group, which operates the casino to this day.
