A latest TikTok video of an older Tennessee man threatening two younger fishermen and breaking one in every of their fishing rods has the web in an uproar. The footage has spawned a number of follow-up movies together with a doxing try. It’s the most recent (however definitely not the primary) instance of the borderline violent encounters that typically happen between public anglers and personal landowners.
TikTok consumer and fishing content material creator @fishn_shi posted the unique video on July 3, together with the next caption: “Drunk karen breaks my $200 St. Croix rod.” The consumer didn’t reply to a request for remark, so lots of the particulars behind the incident stay unclear.
Fishn_shi recorded the video on his cellphone, and he will be heard within the background because the older man confronts him and his buddy on the shore of a lake in Knoxville. The identify of the lake and its possession are unknown, however fishn_shi wrote in a remark that it’s positioned within the Admirals Touchdown neighborhood. A number of giant suburban houses are seen within the background, and not less than two different owners had been concerned within the confrontation.
The older man is already ticked off in the beginning of the roughly one-minute-long clip. He seems to be intoxicated (and at one level he admits to having a drink earlier). Whereas the 2 boys movie on their telephones, he approaches fishn_shi’s buddy, grabs a fishing rod from the boy’s hand, and breaks the rod over his personal leg. The person continues to hurl insults as he repeatedly claims the boys are trespassing on the privately-owned neighborhood lake.
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The video is closely edited, nevertheless, and it’s unclear what precisely led to the rod breaking. Due to the unique video’s recognition — it’s gotten almost 19 million views in lower than every week — fishn_shi shared extra clips on July 6 and seven. Titled Half 2 and Half 3, the movies present extra of the confrontation that ensued.
In Half 2, two different owners accuse the boys of trespassing and mendacity about their names whereas the older man retains making an attempt to run them off. At one level, the aged girl refers back to the rod-breaker as “the president,” presumably of the native home-owner’s affiliation. She says he “has lived right here for years” and “is aware of everybody that lives in right here.”
The boys seem to stay calm through the confrontation. However a brief phase from Half 3 reveals that they weren’t afraid to egg the older man on.
“You’re proper, I had a drink. Is that in opposition to the legislation, dumb shit?” the previous man says in Half 3 after one of many boys claims he can scent alcohol on his breath. The boy then says they’ll watch for the police to reach, and the person says he’ll, too. He additionally threatens to snap one in every of their fishing poles in half in the event that they make another forged into the lake.
“No, you’re not. As a result of the police are gonna press prices on you … We’re displaying the police this video and also you’re gonna get arrested,” one of many boys says. “I can’t wait to see you stroll away in handcuffs.”
The younger fisherman then makes a forged, and the previous man follows by way of on his menace. He grabs the fishing rod from the boy’s hand and snaps it over his thigh like a twig.
At a number of factors within the movies, the person threatens to name the police and press prices in opposition to the younger anglers. The movies don’t present how (or if) the scenario was resolved, and it’s unclear if anybody was charged with against the law. Nonetheless, two self-appointed web investigators have tried to unravel the controversy.
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On July 6, TikTok consumer @TizzyEnt shared a video publish analyzing fishn_shi’s movies. He defends the 2 younger fishermen and calls the older man “a drunk, entitled, impetulant [sic] youngster.” Together with another social media customers who’ve shared their opinions on varied posts, he contends that the boys weren’t trespassing on the non-public neighborhood lake — both as a result of they’d permission to fish or had members of the family who lived there.
“I talked to the younger man,” says TizzyEnt, who claims that he despatched fishn_shi a Bass Professional Retailers reward card price $250 to switch the damaged rod. “His mother and father got here and declined to press prices in opposition to [the older man]. They might have pressed prices in opposition to him as a result of he’s the one who broken their property and assaulted them.”
Along with offering commentary, TizzyEnt identifies the older man within the video by calling consideration to one other follow-up video shared by Danesh, a content material creator and YouTuber who identifies folks on-line (often known as doxing). Danesh claims that the older man is a Knoxville resident named Matt Webster who works at United Group Financial institution and serves because the chairperson of an area Haiti outreach program. He additionally claims that Webster has since deleted his social media profiles. These claims are unconfirmed.
Regardless, the doxing try has fueled a stream of social media-driven vitriol directed at Webster and people surrounding him. It’s additionally led to circumstances of mistaken id as there are not less than two males named Matt Webster who dwell in Knoxville. Earlier in the present day, the nationwide nonprofit group referred to as Haiti Outreach wrote in a Fb publish that it has acquired many hateful messages though it has no reference to the older man within the video. In the meantime, a person named Matt Webster who works for United Group Financial institution in Knoxville has up to date his LinkedIn profile to make clear that he’s “NOT THE FISHING GUY FROM THE SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO.”
