Beef

Ball Square Breakfast War Goes to Court

Ball Square Cafe owner Mike Moccia is now facing civil rights violation charges over his April fistfight with rival Yasser Mizra, the owner of Ball Square Cafe’s neighbor SoundBites, reports the Somerville Journal. The business rival’s feud, which has been simmering since 2007, when Moccia, Mizra’s landlord, sent SoundBites packing and opened his own restaurant in the same space, definitely exploded in fisticuffs this spring. After that, however, opinions diverge.

According to the detectives report, Moccia punched Mizra, who is Syrian, in the head, pushed him down, kicked him in the head, and said “This is for the American people. Go back to your country. You’re stupid. You don’t get it.” Several witnesses, however, tell a different story, claiming that Mizra spit on Moccia, who then punched Mizra, who then unsuccessfully tried to kick Moccia. Moccia also charges that Mizra called him a racial slur for Italians. Nonetheless, at this point Moccia is the only one facing civil rights charges, for which he will appear in court on September 14.

No matter whose side you’re on, it’s clear matters in Ball Square have gotten entirely out of hand, but we still want to know: whose side are you on?

Ball Square Cafe Owner Faces Civil Rights Violation

Previously: Somerville Breakfast War Gets Violent

Ball Square Breakfast War Goes to Court