ATLANTA (AP/WSVN) — An Atlanta gym owner has banned police officers and military members from working out at his facility.
Jim Chambers put up a sign on the door of EAV Barbell Club that used an expletive to announce that police aren’t welcome there. He posted it to Instagram with the caption “We simplified our membership policy.”
Users were quick to slam the gym’s rule as discrimination.
“You actually think you’re cool for discriminating against a group of people because of their profession?” one person replied on Instagram. “It makes no sense to have such loathing against people who serve and protect their community.”
“I was thinking about signing up but I guess I won’t,” another user said. “I do look forward to buying some of your equipment when you inevitably go out of business though.”
Chambers tells WXIA-TV that his gym has “had an explicitly stated ‘No Cop’ policy” since it opened. He says active members of the military also aren’t eligible for membership.
The Atlanta Police Department tells the station that the policy wouldn’t prevent them from responding to an emergency at the gym.
Chambers says he’s taken the sign down due to its vulgarity, but plans to replace it with a clean version. He told the station that people who work out there are generally minorities who are uncomfortable with law enforcement.
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