The owner of a New Jersey gym who was arrested Monday after not adhering to a coronavirus lockdown order said that he is “not afraid of tyrants.”
Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti were arrested early Monday morning in their South Jersey gym after they were held in contempt of court last week for repeatedly refusing defying Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s mandate.
Smith, who was released from police custody, joined Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday evening.
“From the last time that we spoke, we had lost our newest case of contempt of court. That was on Friday of last week,” Smith said. “The governor said, and requested in court, to take ‘extraordinary measures’ to stop us from operating our business.”
He said the local sheriff arrived at Atilis Gym around 5 a.m. Monday morning, and they were arrested. Smith said both he and Trumbetti “peacefully” complied.
Smith added that he and Trumbetti removed the doors to their gym after the health department boarded them up and said the two had not left the establishment since last week.
“My partner and I have had the doors removed since Thursday, and we had not left the building since,” Smith said. ” We had two weeks worth of clothing, and we [were] prepared to stay inside at all cost, but we did agree that we would go peacefully if law enforcement came.”
Smith said that his gym put social distancing protocols in place for the thousands who have gone to work out, saying, “Not a single [coronavirus] case has been reported so far, and we kept detailed records of that all the way through.”
He added in the interview that he’s not afraid of “tyrants” in the state and slammed the media for “pumping fear” over the coronavirus.
“I’m not afraid of tyrants. No American should be,” Smith said. “We outnumber them greatly, and the only thing that they run off of is fear, which is why you see what you see in the media where they are pumping fear. … They don’t ever offer any solutions. It is, ‘Wear a mask, shut up, and wait for a vaccine.'”
“That’s not public health,” Smith asserted, “and I won’t subscribe to it.”
Smith and Trumbetti first made headlines in May for reopening their gym in defiance of the governor’s stay-at-home order. Last week, they were found to be in contempt of court for operating their gym and were ordered to close again.
“From July 24 through July 27, a number of individuals were observed entered and using the gym, a direct violation of the court order,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement Monday. “Police said both owners refused to leave the gym when asked, leading to the charges.”
They were subsequently charged with one count of fourth-degree obstruction and one count of violation of a disaster control order and were released from police custody Monday.
