New Jersey gym owner gets sentenced to one year probation for defying lockdown orders



The owner of a New Jersey gym who was outspoken in defying lockdown orders has been sentenced to probation for contempt of court.

Ian Smith, a co-owner of the Atilis Gym in the township Bellmawr with his partner Frank Trumbetti, tweeted the conclusion of the court case related to his defiance of the lockdown ordered by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

"Thanks to all who joined in on our sentencing hearing. So many came that the server crashed," said Smith.

"We got one year probation for the crime of taking our doors off to prevent government goons from locking us out of our gym," he added. "The Atilis Gym is open and will remain open at any cost."

Smith and his gym have been celebrated among those opposed to lockdown rules after he kept his gym open for months after the lockdown order.

"We open every single day. Gov. Murphy has thrown everything he possibly could to shut us down," Smith told Fox News in Dec. 2020. "He has arrested my partner and I. He's given us over 60 citations, some of them criminal. He fines us $15,497.76 per day for every day that we're in operation."

Smith estimated that the sum of the fines on his business added up to more than $1.2 million.

At one point, Smith took the doors off of his gym so that police could not lock them. He said that not one case of coronavirus had been traced back to his gym.

"What's happening to the middle class and small businesses in America is nothing short of a complete tragedy, and I would go so far as to call it criminal," Smith said to Fox News. "You're putting people out of business for good."

Later in March, 2021, Smith made headlines when he offered free memberships to his gym to those who remained unvaccinated.

Here's more about the lockout defiant gym:

Atilis Gym Owner Gets 1 Year Probation For Defying COVID Shutdown Orderswww.youtube.com

Atilis Gym says NJ 'emptied out every single dollar that we have' from bank account amid COVID-19 lockdown battle with state



The co-owner of lockdown-defying Atilis Gym said the state of New Jersey "emptied out every single dollar that we have" from gym's bank account amid a legal battle with the state over fines for breaking coronavirus-related rules for businesses.

What are the details?

Ian Smith appeared Thursday on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" and told the host that he and business partner Frank Trumbetti checked their bank statement Wednesday morning "and we had no money in our bank account. The state emptied out every single dollar that we have."

Smith on Wednesday tweeted that far-left New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) "and his cronies seized 100%" of the Bellmawr gym's "legal defense money" to the tune of $173,613.60. Smith added, "If you think that's gonna make us stand down, you're delusional." In a video tweet Thursday, Smith cited an amount of $165,000. The gym on Friday didn't immediately respond to TheBlaze's request for clarification on the dollar amount.

"This is in the middle of an appeals process and ongoing litigation in the matter of the fines and several other matters regarding the state, including a lawsuit against Governor Murphy and [State Health Commissioner] Judith Persichilli," Smith told Carlson, adding that "this is an interference with our right to counsel."

He added to the host that the money didn't come from memberships since Atilis hasn't charged members since April 1, 2020; rather it came from donations and T-shirt sales, which the owners used "to pay our bills and fight our legal battles."

Smith noted that the money seizure is a "blatant violation of our constitutional rights and our ability to defend ourselves in the court of law."

What did the state have to say?

A spokesman for the New Jersey attorney general's office told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that the information Smith shared "is not accurate" and that "the state has not seized their bank account funds."

Instead, the spokesman said "the state has obtained judgments against the owners, and intends to collect on them. The total due and owing as a result of court-entered judgments to date is $134,463.08."

"Apparently the funds you reference were frozen as a result of a bank levy having been issued due to the state's collection efforts, which is part of the enforcement of a judicial order," the state is quoted to have said to "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

Now what?

When Carlson asked Smith what he and Trumbetti will do now that there's no money in their bank account, Smith said they will switch to a cash system.

"We will continue to fight this no matter what," he added to the host.

Carlson noted how ironic it is that the gym owners are "being punished for trying to keep people healthy and trim in the middle of a pandemic that kills people who are overweight and out of shape."

"You are doing more than [Gov. Murphy] has to save people's lives," the host added, "and, of course, you are being destroyed for it."

Smith in his Thursday video tweet said the state also is leveling a $15,497.76 daily fine for each day the gym stays open.

Gym owner who defied lockdowns claims state emptied entire bank account youtu.be

Anything else?

Atilis Gym has gained national attention amid its battle with New Jersey bureaucrats.

Tom Williams/Getty Images

Rep. Dan Crenshaw calls on Texas businesses and law enforcement to defy lockdown triggered by spiking hospitalizations



Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas called on businesses to defy a lockdown order and for law enforcement to refuse to enforce it after a spike in coronavirus hospitalizations in the Houston area triggered a shutdown.

Crenshaw was responding to a report in the Houston Chronicle that hospitalizations from the coronavirus in Harris County had grown to more than 15% capacity for the seventh day in a row. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered that regions that exceed this metric would go into renewed lockdown conditions.

"Absolutely not. Businesses should not comply. Lockdowns are not supported by law, they are unconstitutional edicts," tweeted Crenshaw.

Absolutely not. Businesses should not comply. Lockdowns are not supported by law, they are unconstitutional edict… https://t.co/zbK7iRgC73
— Dan Crenshaw (@Dan Crenshaw)1609884102.0

"Law enforcement should not enforce this. Stop stealing people's right to make a living," he added.

Under Abbott's order, bars would be closed and restaurants would reduce occupancy from 75% to 50% in nine counties once the triggering conditions were met. Elective surgeries would also be barred at hospitals within the affected zone.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo tweeted about the lockdown guidelines on Tuesday.

NEW: The Harris County region officially crossed the state's hospitalization threshold triggering #COVID19 reopenin… https://t.co/cakGXbSCah
— Lina Hidalgo (@Lina Hidalgo)1609884170.0

"Honestly, this is just another milestone on the road to a catastrophe unless each of us acts. We can't rely on a small occupancy rollback. Do your part," tweeted Hidalgo.

KHOU-TV reported that doctors at Houston Methodist Hospital are expecting that the latest surge in coronavirus hospitalizations won't crest and decrease for several weeks.

While vaccinations against the coronavirus have begun being administered across Houston, experts say the vaccinations won't quell the current surge of cases and hospitalizations.

An estimated 12,961 people are currently hospitalized in the entire state of Texas, the highest number of the pandemic period.

Here's more about the surge in the Houston area:

Houston-area counties hit hospitalization threshold, triggering reopening rollbackswww.youtube.com

Oregon mayor calls for small businesses to defy governor and open on New Year's Day



The mayor of Sandy, Oregon, is calling on small businesses in his state to open on New Year's Day in defiance of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown's coronavirus restrictions, while still observing rules for social distancing and COVID-19 spread reduction.

In an open letter to the governor sent earlier this month, Mayor Stan Pulliam called the governor's lockdown orders "arbitrary" and accused her restrictions of bankrupting small businesses and sending "our neighbors to spiral into depression and anxiety."

"If you discover a mouse in your house, you don't burn it down to solve the problem. You find a way to safely remove the mouse without destroying everything else you value. Governor Brown, we are opening," the letter stated.

Appearing on Fox News Wednesday, the mayor said, "All Oregonians should take pause, stand up, and say this must stop."

"What we're talking about doing is having a mass movement opening across the state of Oregon throughout all of our local communities on Jan. 1, on New Year's Day," Pulliam said.

He described how a coalition of businesses in Oregon counties that have been labeled "Extreme Risk" will open and voluntarily comply with less restrictive "High Risk" measures recommended by the state government. According to KOIN-TV, restaurants and gyms can open with significantly reduced capacity under that lower tier of restrictions.

"What we're hoping to do is by doing this mass opening, just one level underneath the governor's recommended guidelines ... we want to get these storefronts open and get the employees back to work," Pulliam explained.

Fox News host Sandra Smith asked the mayor if he was "willing to face the consequences" if businesses open as he's calling for and there is increased spread of the coronavirus.

"You know, consequences of what?" Pulliam replied. "We talk about spread coming from our local main street, locally owned businesses but [pay] very little attention to the big box stores that are packing them in supporting corporate America."

"I don't know the names of the CEOs that are running the big box stores, but you better believe I know Lila and Paul Reed of Mt. Hood Athletic Club, Ria who owns Sandy Family Restaurant, Denise of Paola's Pizza. These are the face and names that make up the main street of Sandy and like so many main streets across these local communities all throughout Oregon," he continued.

"It's time that we stand with them."

Part of the reason for the Jan. 1 opening day, Pulliam explained to KOIN, is that in addition to the symbolism of the new year beginning, government agencies that are responsible for enforcing the coronavirus restrictions may be closed for the holiday.