A New Jersey gym owner who reopened his business in defiance of Democratic Governor Phil Murphy’s stay-at-home order told “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that he and his partner were arrested Monday after being detained for contempt of court .
Ian Smith promised in May to reopen the Atilis gym in Bellmawr with social distancing measures in place. His plans drew a crowd of supporters who gathered outside the facility to protest the mandates to stay at Murphy’s home. Since then, Smith said the local health department closed him “citation after citation …” and held him in contempt of court.
“Since the last time we spoke, we had lost our new contempt case to court. That was on Friday of last week,” Smith told Carlson. “The governor said, and asked in court, to take ‘extraordinary measures’ to prevent us from operating our business.”
NJ GYM OWNERS DEFINING ARRESTED MURPHY CORONAVIRUS CLOSING ORDERS
Smith said he was forced to remove the doors of his facility to gain access after the health department approached them in another attempt to close the gym.
“My partner [Frank Trumbetti] and my doors have been removed since Thursday and we have not left the building since then, “Smith said.” We had two weeks of clothes and [were] We prepared to stay inside at all costs, but we agreed that we would go peacefully if the police came.
“That moment came this morning around 5:10 … when the county sheriff entered the building and said we were under arrest. Frank and I at that time went peacefully and when we arrived back after being booked, we had boarded up the doors. “
Defending his decision to reopen, Smith claimed he kept a record of every person who visited the gym, a number that numbered in the thousands, and said “not a single one [coronavirus] The case has been reported so far and we have kept detailed records of that until the end.
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“I’m not afraid of tyrants. No American should be,” said Smith. “We far outnumber them and the only thing they run away from is fear, so you see what you see in the media where they are instilling fear … They never offer any solution. It’s, ‘Wear a mask, shut up and wait for a vaccine.
“That is not public health,” said Smith, “and I will not subscribe.”
