Patricia Grisafi
While people all over the world are protesting the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, some folks are busy ripping paper out of the hands of small children.
Take this Maryland cyclist, who thought it was awful that kids were putting up Black Lives Matter signs in public—and decided that accosting them was the way to get them to stop.
60-year-old Anthony Brennan III of Kensington, MD was arrested and charged with second-degree assault—and fired from his job at Made to Order, Inc.
This grown a*s man just did this to a little girl who was posting flyers in support of George Floyd. This is sick. No grown man has the right to touch children, ever. https://t.co/gxUZ3fFpmf
— Frank Giugliano (@f_giugliano) June 4, 2020
The incident took place on the Capital Crescent Trail in Montgomery County. Brennan’s assault on the kids was captured on video by a man who wished to remain anonymous. The clip found its way to social media, where users were shocked at the footage of a grown man behaving aggressively towards children and forcibly grabbing flyers from them.
Thanks to tips from the community we identifed a suspect in the assault on the Capital Crescent Trail. A short while ago, Anthony Brennan 3rd of Kensington MD was taken into custody on the strength of a District Court arrest warrant. Official press release is available below.
— Park Police MC (@ParkPolice) June 6, 2020
In the fervor to find this enraged cyclist, social media users unfortunately identified two wrong men before Brennan was correctly identified. According to a police statement, police served Brennan with an arrest warrant Friday evening, after he had voluntarily turned himself in.
Anthony Brennan III of Kensington MD pic.twitter.com/Nsnhnww0vx
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) June 6, 2020
Made to Order, Inc. released this statement about Brennan’s behavior:
https://twitter.com/MadeToOrderInc/status/1269082194519064576
Good. I was so appalled. Such a bully. Not his place to be threatening and aggressive to these kids. They felt strongly about George Floyd and that’s a good thing. Compassion. Empathy. Not bad traits.
— doberdog (@JuneHagman) June 6, 2020
I see from his mugshot that apparently you *do* know how to arrest someone without brutally injuring or killing them.
Try to make a habit of it.
— FunBobby (@FunBobby) June 6, 2020
In a statement released through his attorneys, Brennan apologized, saying he recognized his “outrageous behavior” was “unacceptable and wrong.”
“I am sick with remorse for the pain and fear I caused the victims on the trail and online,” he said. “I am committed to making amends by addressing, through counseling, the underlying issues that led to my abhorrent behavior.”
