A sign posted in front of a gym in Atlanta has outraged police officers and community members alike.
The sign outside the EAV Barbell Club on Flat Shoals Avenue in the city's East Atlanta Village neighborhood reads: "Rules: Do Whatever the (expletive) You Want, Correctly, Except Crossfit Cultism - No (expletive) COPS," according to WXIA.
Despite the backlash over the sign, the gym's owner, Jim Chambers, is not making any apologies for putting it up or for his gym's policies..
"We've had an explicitly stated 'No Cop' policy since we opened, and we also don't open membership to active members of the military," Chambers told the news station.
Chambers is a lifelong activist and said that the sign and policy is a political statement outside a multi-use space which serves as a gym, community gathering spot and meeting place for activists in the area.
He claims that the groups who work out of the space are generally minorities who are uncomfortable with the presence of law enforcement.
While the Atlanta Police Department would not comment on the gym's policy, a spokesman told the news station, "Were we to respond to an emergency there, this sign would not stop us from lawfully doing our job."
While lawyers questioned about the policy found it to be strange, they said because law enforcement officers are not a protected class under the law, only the courts can decide if the EAV Barbell Club is violating anti-discrimination laws.
