CrossFit CEO and founder Greg Glassman said in a Zoom call with gym owners that he and his staff were “not mourning for George Floyd” and promoted baseless conspiracy theories about the circumstances of the Minneapolis man’s death, according to a recording obtained by BuzzFeed.
Asked by a Minneapolis-area gym owner why the company had yet to post a statement about the protests that have swept the nation since Floyd’s death on May 25, Glassman responded, “Can you tell me why I should mourn for him? Other than that it’s the white thing to do — other than that, give me another reason.”
“We’re not mourning for George Floyd — I don’t think me or any of my staff are,” he said.
During the call, Glassman also questioned whether the protests that have emerged in every U.S. state were really in response to systemic racism or Floyd’s death in police custody.
“I doubt very much that they’re mourning for Floyd,” he said. “I don’t think that there’s a general mourning for Floyd in any community.”
He also went on to speculate without evidence that Floyd’s death was connected to the nightclub where both he and Derek Chauvin, the officer who has been charged with his murder, worked security as well as a counterfeit bill Floyd reportedly tried to use.
“It’s very interesting that George gets popped with counterfeits, and who comes but the head of security from the dance club? Watch: This thing’s going to turn into first-degree murder,” he said.
“And it’s going to be because I’m predicting this. We have friends in the FBI in your neighborhood, and they’re of the view that this was first-degree murder and it was to silence him over the counterfeit money. That’s the belief. That’s what the cops think,” he added.
Chauvin was not head of security at El Nuevo Rodeo, and owner Maya Santamaria told CBS News that while the two had worked the same Tuesday night event before, she did not know if they had ever met. Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has promoted similarly baseless theories about the two men trafficking drugs through the club.
Shortly after the call, Glassman responded to a tweet from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation calling racism a public health issue by tweeting “It’s FLOYD-19.”
Glassman later responded to the backlash, saying the tweet was “a mistake, not racist, but a mistake.”
The Hill has reached out to CrossFit for comment.