Competing narratives have emerged surrounding a riot that erupted during a Pride celebration in Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Sunday, with some claiming that a mob attack on street vendors was provoked by the use of a gay slur.

Others describe the attack, which led to the beating of a hot dog vendor at the park by a mob, as unprovoked — or targeting an American flag.

Fox News reported Monday:

Rowdy revelers were caught on video beating up a hot dog vendor late Sunday night — as all hell broke loose at Washington Square Park, police said.

The chaos at the Greenwich Village greenspace resulted in the arrests of eight people, including a woman charged with biting an NYPD lieutenant, cops said Monday morning.

But no busts were made in the alleged beatdown of the 65-year-old vendor, who was attacked at Fifth Avenue and Washington Square North just before 11 p.m., according to police.

Disturbing video shows several people surrounding the man, in a bright yellow shirt, with one pummeling him in the face and knocking him down. The attacker can be seen clocking him again as he tries to get away.

The vendor was taken to the hospital. Police say the violence broke out over the prices of items for sale, but claims circulated that the vendor had used a gay slur:

The vendors claim they were assaulted for flying the American flag, according to the New York Post:

The mayhem erupted Sunday night as the rowdy revelers — fresh off Pride Parade celebrations earlier in the day — demanded Abdo Mansour replace his American flag with a Pride flag, he recalled.

“They said, ‘Take that f—ing flag down. Why don’t you put up my flag?’” Mansour said. “And they broke my American flag.”

…

Another vendor said three women asked him for ice — and when he refused to give them any, they chucked a can of soda at him, leaving with him with a gash on his arm.

“I told them, ‘I have ice for the soda. That’s it,’” Hassan Gabr said. “‘You want to buy soda or water, no problem. But I don’t sell ice.’ One of them took a can of soda from the refrigerator and threw it at me.”

Last weekend was the final weekend of Pride month, dedicated in many communities annually to LGBTQ-themed events.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Photo: file