A New Jersey gym that refused to comply with the state’s coronavirus policy has lost its license after the owners repeatedly defied a state order to remain closed while the pandemic continues, Fox News reports.
The Bellmawr Borough Council voted 5 to 1 to rescind the business license of Atilis Gym after owners Frank Trumbetti, 51, and Ian Smith, 33, continued to defy orders from the governor that all gyms must remain closed due to the coronavirus.
Trumbetti and Smith, who opened the gym Wednesday morning despite the license being rescinded Tuesday evening, were arrested earlier this month after they broke into the gym, which had been boarded up by authorities.
“Atilis Gym’s brazen conduct is abhorrent to an organized judicial system, jeopardizes the public health and the safety of New Jerseyans, and must not be tolerated,” the New Jersey Attorney General’s office said following the council’s vote, according to NJ.com. “It is clear that additional sanctions and relief are necessary to coerce Atilis Gym’s compliance with the court’s order.”
"We've all heard these public officials say 'science and data'...We are so confident in our process and in our safety protocol that if you can show us the science and data that proves Atilis Gym in Bellmawr poses more of a threat to the general public than any other place and should remain shut down, we will happily shut our doors," Smith said in a video on Instagram.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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