A Camden County councilor voted Tuesday to revoke the business license of a gym that has repeatedly violated a state order to close its doors under coronavirus restrictions.
Bellmawr’s council voted 5 to 1 to return the Atilis Gym’s mercantile license after an hour – long hearing, which included comments from the gym owners’ attorney, the district attorney and council members. One of the gym owners, Ian Smith, was sitting in the council chamber, along with half a dozen police officers and 10 members of the public were allowed to participate in seats that were 6-feet apart.
“Anyone who has not already made up their minds would have made the right choice,” Smith said outside the hearing.
One of the last times he was in Bellmawr’s municipal complex was earlier this month in handcuffs after he was arrested.
This time he went in on his own free will, but the circumstance was equally unusual.
Howard Long, the district attorney’s attorney, presented information about the quotes that were issued to the gym and advised the council on what they could do about it.
“If you believe this business is unsafe for your Bellmawr residents and you believe laws have been written,” Long said. “You have the right … to revoke this license”
Smith’s attorney, John McCann, called some of the information in the hearing about the gym “goofy” and “obnoxious.” He called it “something from George Orwell.”
The city council finally voted to withdraw the license after nine counts against Smith and his business partner Frank Trumbetti, and an arrest for defying a state government to keep its gym closed as part of the coronavirus pandemic response.
“The basis is that we fight for our constitutional rights,” Trumbetti, 51, said earlier this month.
Trumbetti did not attend Tuesday’s hearing.
Earlier, Trumbetti said he and his partner think the district is acting on behalf of Gov. Phil Murphy.
Murphy has been a target of Trumbetti and Smith, 33, in an ongoing campaign they are doing against the restriction on opening Atilis Gym. Both have appeared multiple times on national newscasts, criticizing Murphy’s pandemic limitations. They say the governor’s executive order, issued when the state was aware of its pandemic response as one of the hardest hit in the nation, was unfair to them and a violation of federal rights.
The state does not see it that way.
“The abusive conduct of Atilis Gym is detrimental to an organized justice system, endangers the public health and safety of New Jerseyans, and should not be tolerated,” the State Attorney General’s Office said. “It is clear that additional sanctions and relief are needed to compel Atilis Gyms to comply with the court’s order.”
The AG’s office last week recommended fines of up to $ 10,000 a day and possible jail time for Trumbetti and Smith, who were found in violation of a state executive order to stay shut down during the shutdown of the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this month, Trumbetti and Smith kicked a plywood barricade at the front door of the gym and opened it to patrons, officials said. The building was shut down to mandate compliance with the shutdown order, which it had broken several times, claiming it was a financial hardship and driving it out of business.
Trumbetti and Smith were also arrested by Camden County sheriffs at the gym on July 27 and taken to a Bellmawr police holding cell after refusing to leave. They were released after appearing before Judge Robert Lougy of Mercer County Civil Judge and fought to appear again on August 16.
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