Joe Rogan offered strong words of support for former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who was arrested in February after attempting to shoot a man accused of molesting a child in his family, according to a report.
“I mean, my only wish is that he did it with his hands,” famed podcaster Rogan said during his show this week. “My only wish is that he just ran the car off the road, pulled that guy out of the f*cking car, and beat him to death. F*ck you.”
According to the Denver Post:
The accused man, 43-year-old Harry Eugene Goularte, lives at the home that hosts a daycare business run by his mother, according to a criminal complaint that charged Goularte with one felony count of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14. Goularte was arraigned Friday, and a judge granted him supervised release, over objections from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Three days later, at about 3:15 p.m. Monday, Velasquez allegedly opened fire at a car carrying Goularte, his stepfather and at least one other person near a cloverleaf interchange where Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue overlap, according to police and sources familiar with the investigation.
The stepfather was hit at least once and is expected to survive. Police have not disclosed any information about the shooting beyond basic location details and their formal suspicion of Velasquez as the shooter.
“Velasquez is charged with attempted, premeditated murder, and other related charges,” the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced in a statement.
ESPN reported March 2:
According to court documents, Goularte, who was not injured in the incident, is accused of a lewd or lascivious act upon a child under age 14.
Goularte, 43, was released from custody Feb. 25 without bail against the DA’s orders, according to the statement from the DA’s office. He was ordered to stay in home detention, remain 100 yards away from any child under 14 and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, which he was allegedly on his way to obtaining when Velasquez gave chase.
The child, who is under 10, told an officer from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 24 that Goularte took him into the bathroom of a daycare center and touched the child’s genitals, per a court document obtained by ESPN. The child said Goularte said not to tell anyone what happened and that this had occurred “100 times.” In the court document, the child said he witnessed other kids go into the bathroom with Goularte as well.
UFC president Dana White also offered support for Velasquez. “You know, we all say we’d do it if it ever happened to us. Cain did it.”
Welterweight fighter Colby Covington, who won against Jorge Masvidal on Saturday, said at the UFC 272 post-fight press conference:
Let’s talk about Cain Velasquez. Free Cain. What he did, a lot of people wouldn’t have done the same thing, but I respect the shit out of him. … I mean, having your kid be molested, I mean, we talk about that all the time, like we would do that. But he was in that same situation and he actually did it. So free Cain, Cain Velasquez, much respect and love, and I hope you get out soon.
There has been no official verification of the victim’s identity at this time, as the victim is a minor.
Former MMA star Ronda Rousey also had words of support and called for Velasquez to be released from jail. “I would have done the same thing if not worse #freeCainVelasquez,” Rousey tweeted Saturday.