A far-left gym owner in Atlanta isn’t backing down from his hateful message for cops and troops.
Jim Chambers, the owner of the EAV Barbell Club in Atlanta, caused outrage by posting a sign at his club that read, “Rules: Do whatever the hell you want, correctly, except Crossfit cultism. -No f**king cops.”
The sign was also posted on their Instagram page, with the caption, “We simplified our membership policy. #eavmisfits #eav #weightlifting #howwedo #fightthedemons #acab #resist #DaveCastroIsACrimeAgainstHumanity #atl #ofcourse”
It was taken down because of the foul language, but the owner is planning to repost a censored version of the sign, despite the outcry from the community. Local station WXIA reported:
EAV Barbell Club’s ‘No Cop’ policy is no longer plastered on the front door.
“I didn’t want the other folks there to take the heat that I’m willing to take,” Chambers said.
Despite the backlash, Chambers says he still stands by the message it conveyed.
“We’ve had an explicitly stated ‘No Cop’ policy since we opened, and we also don’t open membership to active members of the military,” he said.
For Chambers, a lifelong political activist, the sign and policy is a political statement outside a multi-use space which serves as a gym, community gathering spot and meeting place for activists in the metro area.
He says groups who work out there are generally minorities who are uncomfortable with the presence of law enforcement agents.
By the way, the owner is white and the vast majority of the people in the gym photos posted on Instagram are white.
According to the club’s About Us page, “We are a radically aligned, left-friendly gym and community. We require no one to agree with any set of politics, but if you are hostile to the fringe, you ought to look elsewhere.” But how is banning police and military NOT requiring people to agree with their set of politics?
EAV Barbell Club further doubled down on the sentiments of the anti-cop sign with this post to honor Michael Brown, the black man killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. Despite the fact that Brown went for the police officer’s gun, the caption says, “#MikeBrown was murdered three years ago today, by a savage with a gun operating above the law. Remember his name forever. #whywebancops #blacklivesmatter #copfreezones #ferguson #atl #ofcourse”
In the past an image of the words #TerenceCrutcher was posted with the caption: “If you need a space to organize around Racial Justice in #ATL, our door is open. Policing in America is broken. Nobody’s lifts, lifestyle, or cool snaps override the value of human lives. #BlackLivesMatter #TerenceCrutcher #ATLisReady #PutYourMoneyWhereYourMouthIs #AbolishThePolice #OfCourse”
The Atlanta Police Department, ever the professionals, had no comment other than to say, “Were we to respond to an emergency there, this sign would not stop us from lawfully doing our job.”
There are several other political Instagram posts on the gym’s account. On Independence Day of this year, the account posted a photo of a Native American with the caption: “There is no “America.” Destroy colonialism. #july4th #honorthesacred #fightthedemons #mniwiconi #wopila #ofcourse.”
On April 7, 2017, the day the U.S. launched missile strikes against Syria for the government’s use of chemical weapons on its people, they posted an image of the words “Hands Off Syria” with the caption: “Death to Empire. #resistanceisstrength #antiwar #antifascist #handsoffsyria #speakup #f**kprofessionalism #fightthedemons #ofcourse.”
They also posted a picture to honor Fidel Castro on the day of his death, a photo in support of Colin Kaepernick, and an image of a blackboard with the words “Lift Weights, Get High, Smash Capitalism.”
So, clearly, while the owner is trying to pretend that the sign is some noble stand against police brutality, the truth is that he is just another bat crap crazy radical leftist who puts the “dumb” in dumbbells.
What do you think – would you ever go to a gym that banned police and active military? Tell us in the comment box below.
