What did Marcus Rosebrock of Forest Hills do? Black dinner party hose video goes viral as Queens' family files racism lawsuit

A prominent Black doctor and his wife in Queens have filed a lawsuit against their White neighbor Marcus Rosebrock, 48, alleging they were victims of a racial attack. The lawsuit claimed that on September 2022, Marcus Rosebrock sprayed a hose at his Forest Hills neighbor, Dr Yves Duroseau, and his family during a dinner party in their backyard, noting his actions were racially motivated.

The video clip released by the plaintiff's attorney showed a group of mostly Black partygoers screaming in shock and scattering to avoid the water spraying over the fence into the backyard of the Duroseaus' home.

“I’m videotaping the neighbor throwing water at us,” the woman videotaping the incident can be heard saying.

The lawsuit alleged that on September 17, 2022, Yves Duroseau and his wife hosted a birthday party for the doctor's younger sister, Rose Duroseau, where the guests were predominantly Latino and black.

The lawsuit claimed that at about 9.50 pm, at the tail end of the celebration, a White female neighbor entered their home uninvited with a large German Shepherd and demanded they turn down the music playing in the backyard.

In response, Duroseau allegedly told the woman that the party “would be winding down soon” before asking her to leave his house.

Moments later, Marcus Rosebrock used his water hose to spray the partygoers in his neighbor's backyard. The lawsuit said that despite multiple attempts where the guests tried to reason with the defendant, he continued to spray them in what they described as a humiliating attack.

The lawsuit claimed the incident was racially motivated with the intent “to get them to disperse, creating a scene reminiscent of 1960’s Birmingham, Alabama when White law enforcement officers used fire hoses to douse, assault and battery African Americans participating in civil rights demonstrations in an attempt to get them to comply and disperse.”

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Marcus Rosebrock denies the racist claims leveled against him in the lawsuit

In response to the lawsuit, Marcus Rosebrock denied the racist allegations against him, alleging that his neighbor and his guests were the initial aggressors in the incident.

“This one minute and 12-second clip is a snapshot of a series of incidents that happened over a span of an hour,” Rosebrock’s attorney Brandon Gillard told PEOPLE. “The clip doesn’t show what happened before or after,” he added.

Speaking to Daily Mail, Rosebrock said that his life had been destroyed by the lawsuit that alleged he was a racist. Rosebrock told the mail that he was receiving death threats, adding his children were also immensely scared after he was forced to explain the situation to protect them.

“We had to let them know what was going on because there are a lot of black families in the area — but it is not like that,” he claimed.

“This has already destroyed us. They are trying to take away everything I own. My kids could end up on the street, I could end up losing this house,” Rosebrock added.

Rosebrock alleged that other neighbors were also inconvenienced by the party that got progressively louder in the night. He claimed that several other people in the neighborhood also complained about the noise levels to law enforcement.

Rosebrock reiterated that there’s more to what has been alleged in the lawsuit, and he could not expound as he was asked not to comment by his lawyer. However, Dr Yves Duroseau said that Marcus Rosebrock never asked to turn the music down before spraying them down with a hose.

“If someone asked me to turn the music down [because] their kids cannot sleep, that would automatically happen...There were absolutely no words prior to him hosing us,” he said at a news conference on Thursday.

“I know he saw me,” Duroseau said, adding, “We made eye contact. And I tried to speak to him. Every time I tried to speak, he sprayed me harder and harder.”

However, Marcus Rosebrock has maintained his innocence in the incident.