MUST-WATCH: New Jersey Police Show Up To Gym That Reopened In Violation Of Lockdown Order, What Happens Next Is Incredible!
“Formally, you are all in violation of the executive order. On that note. On that note. Have a good day. Everybody be safe,” officer Williams told a crowd gathered outside of a popular gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey.
Atilis gym in southern New Jersey has reopened despite a state order that forced “nonessential businesses” to remain closed in an attempt to slow COVID spread.
Hundreds of supporters of the gym’s reopening cheered and waved American flags as the police officers left them alone.
The gym operators were pleasantly surprised that the police officers chose to uphold their constitutional rights instead of disregarding them.
After the police officers left the scene, the gym operators encouraged other businesses to follow suit and reopen with safety precautions.
“You guys are awesome,” Atilis gym operator and co-owner Ian Smith told the crowd.
“Keep this up, keep this up. Ok. This is a beautiful thing. And this just for everybody. Everybody can open up their businesses. If we can do it, anybody can do it. It’s that simple. All you gotta do is set your mind to it. This is our right,” Smith continued.
Smith was asked by someone in the crowd, “I saw you inside just moments ago. Did you have any sense that was the reaction you would get?”
“We were prepared for anything and that was that was not what we were expecting. That was awesome,” Smith said.
Another crowd gatherer asked Smith, “What are you gonna do now?,” to which Smith responded, “We’re going to open up tomorrow. We’re going to work. We’re going to work all day and we’re going to come back. We’re going to keep on working. We’re gonna keep opening up and we’re going to do it again tomorrow and the day after. I encourage everybody else to do the same thing.”
Smith was previously on Tucker Carlson’s show to announce his gym’s reopening on TV and to blast the New Jersey governor’s overreach.
“Governor Murphy has presented zero plans, and I think that my business partner and I have plans to keep people safe. We think so far this has been just a gross violation of constitutional rights. The 14th Amendment states that no state shall pass any law that infringes upon our rights as citizens, and we’ve been forced into our homes, which we know is not healthy for our immune systems and it’s – enough is enough. We’ve gotten to the point where I’ve watched so many businesses around me collapse. I’ve watched people lose their jobs and there’s no progress moving forward. So we’re ready to take action ourselves and we have thought long and we have thought hard about it,” Smith told Carlson.
Smith criticized how high traffic chain stores remain open while small businesses like gyms remain closed, even though they have better capacities to monitor the health of people entering their buildings.
“We reject the premise of essential versus nonessential businesses. Anything that Wal-Mart can do with hundreds, if not thousands of people passing through the stores every day, touching everything in sight – a small business, whether it be a restaurant, a gym, a hair salon or anything else can replicate those things, and we can go above and beyond and we plan to do that. When we open, we’re going to be taking measures that are no different than if you were to go to a doctor right now. We’ll be taking temperatures at the door. We are not open to the public, which if you actually look at Murphy’s executive order, he says that gyms are closed to the public. We have a membership base that is not a public entity so we will know who comes in our doors, who doesn’t. And that’s something that you don’t see in these big box stores that are letting anybody in with very lax measures.”
Co-owner Ian Smith voluntarily implemented safety measures that limits the gym capacity to 20% and requires temperature checks before entering.
Smith explained to Carlson the extensive measures taken at Atilis, “We’ve spread out the entire gym. We understand that we’re probably not going to be able to have max capacity, so we spread things out. Everything in the gym is more than six feet apart, including cardio equipment. There’s signage everywhere. Every single person walking in the gym is going to have to follow instructions or they will be asked to leave and the people that walk in, walk in voluntarily. So we’re ready to go.”
“We’re ready to show that anything that Wal-Mart or these big corporations who have been given leeway to operate freely, small businesses in America all around America can do. We can get back to work. We can get back to work safely with public interest -excuse me – public health in mind. Not a single one of us – not Rick Savage, not Shelley Luther, none of us are doubting the danger of the Coronavirus. What we’re saying is that we can be prosperous and we can be cautious at the same time, because if we choose one or the other, either situation is going to lead us down a dark road. There’s a common ground in the middle to be found and we think that we’re going to showcase that on Monday, regardless of whatever consequences come our way.”
However, the police officers came back that evening with an order, presumably from their higher-ups, to hand the gym operators court summons, which didn’t bother Smith or his attorney. The gym owners were not arrested.
When asked about the summons, Smith told Tucker Carlson, “I assume that they came back because they received an order from higher up. My business partner Frank and I received a summons for violating a governor’s order.”
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“What are the consequences of that?” Carlson asked.
“I guess only time is gonna tell. My attorney didn’t seem too ruffled up by it, and neither are Frank and I,” Smith said.
Tucker asked Smith if he thought Governor Murphy felt pressure to issue the gym with the summons.
“So it sounds like you suspect that the governor, Governor Murphy, the former Goldman Sachs partners, was managing your state, felt that his personal integrity was on the line here. Like he couldn’t let you do this?”
“That’s certainly what it felt like. You know, I don’t know entirely, but, you know, moments earlier, probably about a half hour earlier, we had that beautiful exchange with the officers that had been present all day, and whom we’ve had nothing but great exchange with. It’s been love and positive all day, and, you know, with the exception of handing over a summons, it remained that way,” Smith replied.
Carlson added he’s sure the officers who were outside the gym would rather not be policing such ridiculousness and asked Smith if he believed the city and state as a whole had more urgent crime that needed attention.
“I mean, the police presence is striking. And again, as you just pointed out, I’d bet money these guys don’t want to be there. They think they’ve got better things to do and I bet they do, so that’s my question. Has all violent crime ended in the state of New Jersey? Is Camden a safe place to walk around now?
“I wouldn’t go take a stroll, no,” Smith replied.
“So because somebody sent all these cops to your business for the crime of just wanting to make a living, that means other crimes weren’t prevented. Is that a fair assumption?” Carlson asked.
“Absolutely. I mean, there was a heavy police presence starting pretty early in the morning and, you know, they helped us maintain order. There were a lot of people there. So I am thankful for that, but I’m sure that – that their job could have been done better elsewhere. I’m sure that there were other calls that needed to be handled. And, you know, for the most part, we were self-reliant and responsible and peaceful,” Smith said.
Things escalated on Tuesday when the owners were given another summons by the police and one gym member was arrested for obstruction of justice when he failed to give the police his name.
Despite some fake news reports, neither gym owner has been arrested as of this time.
The Scoop will update this breaking news story as more information becomes available throughout the day.
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Steeve Strange is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Scoop. Follow Steeve on Twitter @TheScoopSteeve, on Instagram @TheScoopSteeve, and on Facebook @TheScoopSteeve.
