A man was filmed verbally and physically assaulting a gym employee in Chicago after a dispute over the business’ face mask policy.
The video begins with the man, who seemingly refuses to wear his face covering, shoving the employee multiple times.
“I don’t want you near me,” the man says. “If you had just kept your fucking mouth shut and not played games, I would be walking out, and you’d be minding your own business, but you want to be a big guy, and you want to play games.”
The man goes on to continue his profanity-laden tirade, calling the employee a “dumbass” and “a joke” before shoving him in the face. Despite the physical and verbal onslaught, the employee remains calm throughout the entire encounter.
But it wasn’t just the gym employee who was targeted. The irate man then set his sights on two gym-goers who he accused of “ruining (his)” country. The man denied that his comments were racist and instead claimed the problem was liberalism.
The man even claimed to be a lawyer and threatened to file a lawsuit against the employee and the gym.
“So I hope at the end of the day when I file this report, and when I sue you guys, that this is all worth it,” he says.
Although the footage ends shortly after, the gym employee has since released a statement noting that police did eventually arrive on the scene.
“What isn’t filmed is the next 90min where he told the police that I threatened him and all of the other fantasies that he made up,” the employee wrote. “The police looked at the footage, heard the testimony of all the members, and looked at out security footage…”
The employee says the police essentially told the man that he was “nuts,” given that the footage showed him being entirely at fault. The man then reportedly demanded to speak to a superior, who, unsurprisingly, came to the same conclusion.
The man, who has since been identified as Austin Tony Myers, was ultimately taken into custody. Incredibly, the employee said that while he was retelling the story on Instagram, Myers called the gym and threatened him over the phone.
In the end, Myers was charged with two misdemeanors, battery and criminal trespass, according to police.
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