7 workers fired after vicious brawl at Popeyes caught on video

MILWAUKEE (WITI-TV) — Outrageous cellphone video from inside a Milwaukee Popeyes restaurant shows a group of employees getting into a vicious brawl.

The incident happened while customers were inside. The violent encounter happened Wednesday at the Popeyes near 76th and Good Hope Road around 9:30 p.m.

Richard Fourté wanted to avoid the drive-through line — and went inside.

“I said to myself, I said, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of people working here,'” Fourté said.

Soon it went from calm to chaos inside the restaurant.

“I heard one of them yell, ‘It’s a fight,” Fourté said. “They ran to the back by the grills, OK. Now, there was a fight back there. I didn’t get that one on tape.”

Fourté said tensions were just beginning to mount. Feeling the hostility, Fourté grabbed his cellphone and started recording.

Moments later, a violent fight broke out with several employees throwing punches.

Soon, the situation cooled off — and Fourté left empty-handed.

“Honestly, I wasn’t even going to get the chicken sandwich,” Fourté said.

When police arrived on scene, they determined no weapons were involved — and no arrests were made. It is unclear what sparked the brawl.

A statement was released from Popeye’s franchise owner John Brodersen:

“This was an unfortunate, isolated incident which we take very seriously. The dining room was closed immediately after the altercation at 9:30 p.m. As a result of this, seven employees were terminated from the company, including the manager on duty.”

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