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Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Gym-goer claims he was kicked out of Crunch Fitness for wearing popular hat
A Wisconsin gym-goer has claimed he was kicked out of a Crunch Fitness franchise because he proudly displayed his support for President Donald Trump - though police say his ouster was a result of his harassing other members. Michael Green, 42, is now suing the Fitness Ventures LLC - a Crunch franchisee with locations in 27 states, claiming he was discriminated against for wearing a 'Trump 2024' hat, the Independent reports. Green admits in the lawsuit he still does not 'understand what happened' when he was escorted out of the Madison location on March 30. But he has come to the conclusion 'someone at the gym had a perceived issue with me and decided to weaponize the police against me.' 'I had been wearing a pro-Trump hat during prior gym visits, but stopped du to the stares I would get from staff and members,' he wrote in the federal complaint he filed himself. 'Perhaps it was some kind of retaliation for being a Trump supporter, even worse a black Trump supporter in Dane County.' Green is now arguing that the gym violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by 'engaging in discriminatory practices' against him. He is seeking $75,000 in damages, which he says is 'enough that [it] may provide a deterrent from similar behavior in the future.' According to his complaint, Green was working out at the gym on March 30 when he was suddenly 'approached by a staff member and two Madison Police officers. 'The staff member said that I was being "aggressive" to gym members,' he recounts. 'I still have no clue what exactly is going on, the staff member was extremely vague.' He said he then asked if he could use the shower before he left, and was told that he couldn't - at which point he went into the locker room 'to change clothes as quickly as I could.' As soon as he left the locker room, Green claims he was confronted by 'six to 10 Madison police officers. 'I asked them what was going on, they explained thy were called to make sure I left the premises, and I left as instructed.' Once outside, though, Green claims he realized he had left some of his belongings inside the gym - and called the office to see if a staffer could give his items to one of the cops at the scene. But the complaint says the officers soon left, and the Crunch employee told him to meet him at the gym entrance to pick up his stuff. 'While walking towards the gym, I flagged down a Madison Police officer and asked them if they could get my items instead of me approaching the gym,' Green wrote. '[T]he officer agreed.' At that point, Green said he called the gym to tell the staff member that a police officer would be returning to collect the items rather than himself. But the situation quickly escalated when Green complained abut the 'vulgar, racist stereotyping rap music' the gym plays, which he says 'paints African Americans in a fictional, terrible light.' The staffer then allegedly denigrated black people - which Green responded to with a homophobic slur. The police incident report obtained by the Independent, though, tells a completely different story. It says police were dispatched to the gym on March 30 after an employee complained about a member who was allegedly 'causing a disturbance' and asked to have police standing by when staffers removed him. The guest - Green - had allegedly 'approached other gym members and screamed and cursed at them' because he wanted to use their equipment. The police report notes that members of the gym asked the manager to have Green removed, but did not want to file charges against him. It also says that only two officers responded to the call - not the half dozen Green claimed - and they escorted him to the locker room, then stood outside as he gathered his belongings. In the end, the police report says, officers told Green not to return to the gym for the remainder of the day and he was seen walking away. 'The case is closed on our end,' a Madison police spokeswoman told The Independent. But this is not the first time Green has filed a discrimination lawsuit against a gym. In fact, just two weeks before he filed the federal suit against Fitness Ventures LLC, he sued Anytime Fitness - making similar accusations. In that suit, Green says he would repeatedly receive sneers from his fellow gym-goers for 'show[ing] my support of our president by wearing different types of Trump apparel such as hats, book bags, t-shirts, etc.' Then on February 4, Green said another member snickered at him and told him 'I'm wondering why your black and you like Trump so much.' Green claims in the lawsuit that he ignored the man and 'told him I'd train him instead of arguing with him. 'As I worked out, I explained to him what kind of exercises I was doing and why I was doing them. I did that throughout my workout,' he admits. 'At some point in the morning, one of the Anytime staff members showed up and asked me what was going on,' he continued. 'I explained to him that I was trying to train that guy so he could stop being concerned about my political leanings.... He told me that it was my fault that I chose to be pro-Trump, then he told me to stop bothering the guest.' In the aftermath, Green said he complained to Anytime Fitness about the employee - and when he went to a different location later that day, he received a phone call from someone claiming to be the vice president of the gym. The vice president informed him that he wanted to cancel Green's contract, but Green continued his workout. By the time he was changing out of his exercise clothes, Green claimed Madison police came and escorted him out. But Green decided to press matters and mentioned Richard Johnson, who he said was 'a young African American man that Madison police recently beat to death and used the Dane sheriff to help them attempt to cover it. 'Apparently that angered the cop, which set up a path for a rough night of abuse by law enforcement, starting with me bein arrested for trespassing,' he wrote. Green did not name Madison police as a defendant in either lawsuit - and apparently came to the conclusion that the fault lies with Dane County (which he did not name as a defendant either). He described the county in his latest suit as being 'extremely liberal' and derides the residents as being biased against conservatives. 'The anger I feel about this can only be overshadowed by an overall sense of sadness,' he writes.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gym-goer claims he was kicked out of a Wisconsin Crunch Fitness for wearing a ‘Trump 2024' hat
A devoted Donald Trump fan was thrown out of a Crunch Fitness in Madison, Wisconsin, after cops said he 'screamed and cursed' at other members trying to work out, but the aggrieved member – who is now suing the chain – believes his banishment stems from the Trump hat he sometimes donned while there. Michael Green filed a federal lawsuit against Fitness Ventures, LLC, a Crunch franchisee with locations in 27 U.S. states, claiming he was discriminated against for being a Trump supporter – not for causing a disturbance, as a police report obtained by The Independent shows. 'I still don't understand exactly what happened, but I'm thinking someone at the gym had a perceived issue with me and decided to weaponize the police against me,' Green's March 31 complaint states. 'I had been wearing a pro-Trump hat during prior gym visits but stopped due to the stares I would get from staff and members… Perhaps it was some kind of retaliation for being a Trump supporter, even worse a [B]lack Trump supporter in Dane County.' Green, 42, believes Crunch violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by 'engaging in discriminatory practices' against him. He is seeking $75,000 for his alleged troubles, writing in his self-filed complaint, '$75,000 is enough that may provide a deterrent from similar behavior in the future.' Green claims his Trump merch got him thrown out of two gyms (Getty Images) Two weeks before filing suit against Crunch, Green sued another area health club over similar allegations, claiming he had been discriminated against for 'show[ing] my support of our president by wearing different types of Trump apparel such as hats, book bags, tee shirts, etc.' He was also removed from that gym by police for allegedly harassing the manager, a Democrat, over her political leanings. In a phone call on Wednesday, Green told The Independent that the hat in question at Crunch read: 'Trump 2024.' 'I had stopped wearing it, but they had already pegged me as a Trump guy,' Green said. Over the course of 40 minutes, Green, who said he voted for Trump in 2024, railed against DEI initiatives, the transgender community, and the 'liberals' he insisted were responsible for pushing him into the president's arms. 'I'm not a cult follower, it's just living in that area, them telling me that he's bad… that made me say, 'OK, well, I'm gonna vote for him then,'' Green said. Fitness Ventures, LLC executives did not respond to requests for comment. Two weeks before he sued Crunch, Michael Green sued another local gym over a near-identical allegation (Getty Images) Green's beef stems from an encounter on March 30, the day before he sued Crunch, when he was exercising at a local gym, according to his complaint. While there, his complaint states, he 'was approached by a staff member and two Madison Police officers.' 'The staff member said that I was being 'aggressive' to gym members,' Green's complaint goes on. 'I still have no clue what exactly is going on, the staff member was extremely vague. I was drenched in sweat so I asked If I could use the shower before I left, the staff member told me I could not so I went into the locker room to change clothes as quickly as I could.' Upon leaving the locker room, Green 'was confronted by 6-10 madison [sic] police officers,' his complaint continues. 'I asked them what was going on, they explained they were called to make sure I left the premises. I left as instructed.' Once he was out of the building, Green realized he had forgotten some of his belongings at the gym, his complaint says. So, as cops were still on the scene, Green called Crunch and asked a staffer to give his things to the officers so he could get them back, according to the complaint. But, it says, the police soon left, and the Crunch employee told Green to meet him at the gym entrance to pick up his stuff. Green insisted that widespread anti-Trump sentiment is what pushed him to become a Trump supporter (AFP via Getty Images) 'While walking towards the gym I flagged down a Madison Police officer and asked them If they could get my items instead of me approaching the gym,' Green's complaint states. '[T]he officer agreed.' Green then called the gym to tell the staff member that police would be coming back instead of him, according to his complaint. During that call, Green complained about the 'vulgar, racist, stereotyping rap music' Crunch plays, which, the complaint asserts, 'paints African-Americans in a fictional[,] terrible light.' The staffer followed up by denigrating Black people, to which Green responded with a homophobic slur, says the complaint, which does not specify whether or not Green ultimately got his property back. However, an incident report shared with The Independent by a Madison Police Department spokeswoman tells a different story. Officers were dispatched on March 30 to Crunch after an employee called the cops about a gym member – Green – who was allegedly 'causing a disturbance,' and asked to have police standing by when staffers ejected him, according to the report. Green reportedly had 'approached other gym members and screamed and cursed at them' because he wanted to use their exercise equipment, the report states. It says these members asked the manager to have Green removed, but did not wish to press charges against him. Although Green claims his support for Donald Trump, seen here campaigning in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is what got him thrown out of a local gym, police tell a different story (Getty Images) According to the incident report, only two officers responded to the call, not the half-dozen or more mentioned in Green's complaint. They escorted Green to the locker room and stood outside as he gathered his belongings, the report explains. The officers instructed Green not to return to Crunch for the remainder of the day, after which Green was seen walking away toward a nearby mall, according to the report. 'The case is closed on our end,' the Madison police spokeswoman told The Independent. Last month, a woman claimed she had been kicked out of an Indianapolis bar for wearing a MAGA hat; the bar said she had been harassing an employee. Last year, two women were removed from a British Airways flight after trading punches over a Trump hat one was wearing. Things have also gone the other way for people sporting Trump merch – in October, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell claimed to have gotten out of a speeding ticket thanks to a cop who spotted his MAGA hat and let him go. In his complaint, Green declares Dane County, where Madison is located, to be 'extremely liberal,' and derides its residents as biased against those on the right. 'The anger I feel about this can only be overshadowed by an overall sense of sadness,' Green's complaint concludes. 'I don't believe this to be a Crunch or Fitness Venture issue as it's more a Dane County issue.' Dane County is not named as a defendant in Green's suit.
