The co-owner of Melbourne's Bar 20 has defended his staff after a viral video showed a man being knocked out by a chair thrown by his friend. The incident, which has been viewed over 27 million times worldwide, began with a foul-mouthed demand for a beer.
Michael Trimble told news.com.au that the trouble started when a man asked a barmaid to 'open the f***ing beer' after she hesitated to serve him. The two men had been aggressive from the moment they entered the King Street venue at 9.20pm on Friday night.
Security was called, but the pair refused to leave, turning what should have been a 30-second ejection into an eight-minute ordeal. Once forced onto the street, one man briefly brandished a bollard before snatching a wooden chair from a neighbouring Korean restaurant and hurling it at security guards.
The chair missed the bouncers and struck the apologetic friend in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. Trimble said the victim had returned to apologise for his mate's behaviour before being hit.
Trimble, who has worked in the industry for 12 years, said he had never seen anything with such viral potential. The chair has since been put on display at the club, dressed in a Bar 20 shirt as a piece of memorabilia.
