A Louisiana man was forced to temporarily close his business after he was caught on viral video racially profiling and harassing a Black man for fishing in a pond.
The victim, Marlon Cox, recorded the confrontation, which happened in December in Gonzales, Louisiana, a suburb outside of Baton Rouge.
Cox made several posts on social media about what led up to the altercation.
He said that during a visit to his friend’s home in a gated community, he was given permission to fish in a pond in the subdivision.
Cox’s fishing outing took an ugly turn when he was followed by a large white truck, then confronted by the driver, who questioned his presence in the neighborhood.
In the video footage Cox recorded, the man calls Cox the N-word and a b—h, and then falsely accuses Cox of attacking him. He demands that Cox leave the subdivision, but blocks Cox’s vehicle.
After Cox returns to his friend’s home, more cellphone footage shows the driver pulling into his friend’s driveway.
Cox and the homeowner both question the driver, and, at one point, the driver gets out of his car to aggressively confront Cox face-to-face. The altercation quickly ends after the homeowner demands that he leave the property.
Local news outlet WBRZ interviewed Cox about the incident. The station reported that it blurred the driver’s face in its report on the altercation since no charges were filed.
But the decision is drawing backlash online from people accusing the outlet of safeguarding a bigot rather than exposing him.
However, Cox took to social media to identify the driver as Matt Madere, the owner and operator of Ace Physical Therapy in Walker, Louisiana. In the videos Cox posted, Madere was seen wearing a polo shirt with the Ace logo.
The company reportedly closed its doors due to death threats after a video of the incident went viral. Its Facebook page has also been deactivated.
Before the Facebook page was temporarily removed, Madere commented on a post, accusing Cox of running him off the road when he pulled out of his driveway.
“I could care less about him fishing in the ponds, but when he endangered my family we had a problem,” Madere wrote.
Cox believes Madere was drunk at the time of the confrontation.
Some social media users agreed with the criticisms aimed at the news outlet over the decision to blur Madere’s face and withhold his identity.
“Yes! Show his face and say his name!” one X user commented.
Several people also left one-star reviews on the Yelp page for Ace Physical Therapy after the videos circulated online.
“Racism cannot be tolerated! You are a direct representation of your business and the quality of services you provide. Shameful practices and horrible behavior,” one person wrote on the page.
