Santa’s job to determine who was naughty or nice at a Christmas celebration on Nantucket island was made more conspicuous by a street brawl that broke out in the upscale Massachusetts enclave among some people who showed up for his arrival.
A video of the melee, which took place last Saturday on Federal Street during the 51st Nantucket Christmas Stroll where the highlight of the event is Santa’s arrival on the island’s wharf, was posted this week by the Nantucket Current.
A local news site reported that the event draws thousands to the island annually. But among this year’s attendees were a group of well-dressed men ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s who are seen on the video arguing and shoving each other in the street.
The conflict appears to escalate when someone throws a punch and another jumps on the back of another man and the brawl breaks out as several people are seen throwing haymakers at each other.
People near the camera that captured the fight keep repeating “Oh, my God!” in shock over what they were seeing at an event that ostensibly is supposed to bring “good tidings of love and joy.”
Officers with the Nantucket Police Department responded to the scene of the fight, according to the local reporting, but no arrests were made and those involved in declined to press charges.
It’s not clear what the dispute that set off the Christmas rumble was about.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.