The owner of an exercise gym in Atlanta, Georgia, is standing firm on his policy of refusing to serve police officers, reports say.
Jim Chambers, owner of Atlanta’s EAV Barbell Club, not only defends his posted rules that say “no fu**ing cops,” but also added that military veterans are not allowed in his establishment, either.
The gym in the city’s East Atlanta Village neighborhood became news when a citizen posted a photo of the hand-written sign taped on the door of the establishment that attacked both the crossfit exercise movement as well as police officers.
The sign, scrawled with a marker, reads, “Rules: Do whatever the hell you want, correctly, except crossfit cultism.—No fu**ing cops.”
When asked about the sign by Atlanta’s NBC affiliate, Chambers refused to back down.
“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,” Chambers told Atlanta 11 Alive News.
Chambers added that his clientele is mostly made up of minorities who are “uncomfortable” around police officers.
The gym’s Facebook page also contains several anti-cop entries.
A spokesman for the Atlanta Police Department insisted that the anti-cop sentiment would not prevent them from responding to an emergency at the gym.
“Were we to respond to an emergency there, this sign would not stop us from lawfully doing our job,” the APD said.
Chambers did make one compromise with his anti-cop sign. The life long, left-wing political activist admitted that the foul language was probably unhelpful. “It was really just that the vulgarity in that sign, and that seems to bring it out for people,” he said.
Chambers said he would re-write his “rules” sign to exclude the profanity. But the sign would be re-posted despite its controversial message.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.