LA Man Sparks Heated Movie Theater Etiquette Debate After Pepper-Spraying Fellow Moviegoer For Using Cellphone

When someone is being rude in a movie theater, what's a reasonable reaction?

34-year-old Matthew Ware in Burbank, California, was arrested and removed from AMC Burbank after he used pepper spray against a fellow moviegoer at a screening of The Uprising. Why? He was frustrated that the person was using their phone during the movie.

Not only did Ware injure his fellow moviegoer, but two other theater patrons were impacted by the pepper spray. All three of them had to go to a local hospital for treatment.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Fellow moviegoer Joe Rodriguez witnessed the incident and said:

"Everything was normal, and all of a sudden behind me, I hear the sound of an aerosol can, like a spray."

"And a guy just yells out, 'I just got pepper-sprayed. This guy just pepper-sprayed me!'"

"The thing that stuck out the most was him saying that the guy on the phone 'got smart' with him."

"This was just a guy who was frustrated and lashed out because a guy was being rude at the movies."

Another witness, who remained anonymous, claimed that Ware clearly had second thoughts about the pepper spray, as he ran out of the theater to avoid being caught. Three people chased him down and held him until police arrived.

The incident was shared on the "Entertainment" subReddit, where Redditors kind of understood the reaction.

"I only feel bad for the other moviegoers caught in the crossfire. But something seriously needs to be done about people being on their phones/being disruptive during films." —knbo674

"The other night during 'Resident Evil,' the guy two seats away from me would NOT STOP TALKING."

"Halfway through, I finally said, 'Please stop talking or pay me $23 for my ticket,' like, come on, shut up, and watch the movie." —FLcitizen

"I hate people who treat a public space like it's their living room. I don't condone it, but I understand it." —RottenPingu1

"Concerts too. Not phone usage; I don’t care if people want to take a bunch of pictures or videos. But people have full-on conversations and just talk through concerts now." —ajg4747

"Nicole Kidman just shed a single proud tear. Somehow, pepper spraying someone feels good in a place like this." —Simple_Job_9700

The incident was also shared on X, where X users admittedly appreciated the respect to cinema.

It's frustrating when people don't respect the movie theater environment, but physically harming someone to preserve that movie magic might not be the way to go.