A young man, estimated to be in his late twenties/early thirties, of Hampshire Village, Corentyne, Berbice, Region 6, was allegedly badly beaten last evening, 29th of September, 2024, during a nightclub brawl which turned bloody. The victim has been identified by an eyewitness on the scene by first name “Brian” who is a business owner from Hampshire, Corentyne, Region 6. The alleged assailant has been identified as popular social media personality, newscaster, journalist, and talk show host, Mikhail Rodrigues AKA the Guyanese Critic.
An eyewitness on the scene related to this publication that she was close to the Montra Nightclub/Restaurant/Lounge which is located on Lamaha Street, Georgetown, Region 4 when she heard noises of persons scrambling down the stairs and someone shouting “hold him! hold him!” Upon looking closer, the eyewitness said she saw the Guyanese Critic scrambling down the stairs behind Brian who was running away.
According to the eyewitness, Brian eventually slowed down and Rodrigues caught up with him and started delivering punches and kicks to his body. Rodrigues’ son and daughter*, who were with him at the nightclub, also allegedly joined in the fight and delivered blows on the victim.
The eyewitness further related that persons were afraid to record the incident because the Guyanese Critic threatened in a loud voice that anyone who recorded would get shot. However, a video was recorded after the fight ended showing the Guyanese Critic in a bloodied condition handing over gold chains to the police. According to the eyewitness, those gold chains were ripped off the victim during the fight.
“Brian was badly beaten. I am worried for him. He might have sustained multiple serious injuries. I couldn’t do anything, even though I know him personally, because I was afraid. He was kicked in the head as he lay on the ground. I felt really bad because I couldn’t do anything. Whatever he did upstairs in the club, I don’t know, but I don’t think he deserved this; and I pray justice is served.” – Eyewitness on the scene speaking to this publication on condition of anonymity.
There are conflicting and sketchy stories of what sparked the conflict upstairs in the nightclub. One person called in to tell this publication that the Guyanese Critic was defending someone which caused him to come in conflict with Brian. However, another person said that the Guyanese Critic was doing something when Brian took out his mobile device to video. The Critic then allegedly told Brian not to video, to which he acted defiantly, leading to a confrontation and the two scrambling each other. The source explained that during the scramble, Brian hit the Guyanese Critic with a beer bottle to free himself and then ran down the stairs.
Update
A longer version of the video, shared by popular social media personality Melissa Ann Atwell AKA Melly Mel, shows Brian lying on the ground and the Guyanese Critic ordering that he be thrown into the trunk of his (Critic’s) car. It is unclear why Rodrigues wanted the victim thrown in the trunk of his car, however, the police patrol, which was nearby, soon pulled up and intervened.
The longer version of the video, posted below, also confirms what our eyewitness told us, but which we omitted earlier: that the young woman, *who is perhaps the girlfriend of Rodrigues’ son, begged Rodrigues to stop beating the young man.
*Editor’s Note: Earlier we said that Rodrigues’ son and daughter helped beat the downtrodden young man. However, the young woman in reference, we later learned, might be the girlfriend of Rodrigues’ son, and not his daughter. The second video shows her begging Rodrigues to stop beating Brian.
