A Tennessee man has been charged with assault after taking a swing at a Black man working in the River House apartment building’s parking garage in Nashville.
Edward Brennan was arrested by Nashville police after attempting to punch Johnny Martinez, an employee working in the parking garage who was checking the parked cars for parking permits.
Martinez caught the incident on video.
The trouble began when the mother and son duo asked Martinez to show his employee ID. He refused.
The interaction escalated from Edward Brennan and his mother Bitsy Brennan calling 911 to Edward Brennan physically striking Martinez and causing a key from his keyring to fall off.
“He broke this bottle opener off of my keys. When I went to go pick it up, he lunged.”
"You don't belong here!"
White mother and son berate and assault a Black man, Johnny Martinez, after they demand he explain why he's in their building in Nashville, TN.
He wears a headlamp, kneepads, & lanyard. He told them he works for a booting company that check for permits. pic.twitter.com/11Mxr5Eqsq
— chris evans (@chris_notcapn) December 8, 2021
Isn’t Tennessee a stand your ground state? They are going to mess with the wrong one someday.
— Beeeee88 (@NurseBeeeee88) December 8, 2021
He was definitely goading the racists. Good for him for standing up for himself, but it's a dangerous game. You never know when they might pull out a gun for "self defense"
— CT-7567 (@scp035themask) December 8, 2021
Lol. You can tell 911's reaction to her asking for the guy's ID when she says, "I'm not security. No."
— My Account 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ (@notimetobehere) December 8, 2021
These people are absolute trash https://t.co/W2uGgaEXxu
— heather (@heathernicole25) December 8, 2021
It is the incredulity of racists for me. Like, how dare he be in a space they don't want him to be in and not answer their questions!?! https://t.co/D1KsxI5Fc1
— Jonathan (@johnochase) December 8, 2021
Hello @dell, looking for an update on your employee, Edward Brennan. His behavior is not only horrible, however he is now suing the man he assaulted. Please advise, before I do any business with your company. https://t.co/isYKNgAMw8
— Katzen Sunshine 🇨🇦 🌱 Ⓥ (@I_am_Katzen) December 6, 2021
Nashville racists Bitsy and Edward Brennan. They need to be famous. Parking garage Karen #Racist #Karen #Nashville #ParkingGarage https://t.co/vfmOLuA2KI
— Texas Twirl (@mouthofdasouth6) December 3, 2021
Martinez's job is to check parked cars for parking permits in order to make sure the company he is employed through, a car booting company, doesn't need to boot any of the cars in the lot.
While working, he reportedly wears a large headlamp, knee pads and a lanyard, hoping to signal to passersby he should be left alone and he should be there.
If they were actually concerned about security, they could have … gone to security. Like they did at the end of the video. They just wanted to be self-appointed intimidators of the kind of people they don’t want in the building.
— Chris Fredda 💗💜💙 (@SeeYouInNJ) December 8, 2021
All that concern for safety and security yet they took the time to harass the “dangerous man” and demand he identify his reason for being there 🙄😒
— Careese (@ReeseCareese) December 8, 2021
The thing is… she’s not actually scared that he’s doing crime, she is literally just doing this to harass him. If she were afraid he was some kind of criminal she wouldn’t be standing there. We need stronger laws about this kind of harassment.
— Amy 🦂 (@AmyNoMiddleNam3) December 8, 2021
“No, no, no…you’re involved in a crime stay down here.”
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Gp8qEkhbb4
— C🍪🍪kie Montague (@AroundTheWayMM) December 8, 2021
No charges have yet been filed against Bitsy Brennan.