Right-wing provocateur Ethan Schmidt filmed himself confronting PetSmart employees over the store’s Pride flag. Shortly thereafter, the manager kicked him out. (Twitter/@patriottakes)
What a right-wing bandit threatened to “hunt” LGBTQ+ peoplewas kicked out of a pet store after complaining to staff about a ‘satanic’ Pride flag.
A video shot by Ethan Schmidt and shared on Twitter by PatriotTakes, which tracks right-wing extremism and also identified Schmidt, showed the provocateur confronting PetSmart employees about the pride flag hanging above the cash register.
In the video, Schmidt, who is the founder of a group called the Anti-Masquerade Club, asked the cashier to remove the flag because it was “very offensive.” The worker did not feel any of his antics and quickly called the manager.
He described the flag as “satanic” and repeated his so-called concern when the manager eventually arrived.
But the manager immediately rejected Schmidt’s request for the flag to be removed, saying it was a “property” LGBTQ+ community.
Schmidt then falsely claimed that the flag “connotes” “pedophilia and the sexualization of children” before again demanding that the flag be taken down.
“I’m very offended and I wish it would be taken down,” Schmidt whined. “Respect your customers and please take it down for me.”
However, the manager pointed the right to the door and asked Schmidt to leave because “we support LGBTQ+ people here.”
“It’s a rainbow from Satan,” replied Schmidt, although no one was listening. “A real rainbow from God.”
A PetSmart manager confronts Kari Lake fan Ethan Schmidt and kicks him out of the store for harassing employees over a pride flag. pic.twitter.com/YGvFMG4cU9
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) July 22, 2022
After being repeatedly asked to leave and calling the Petco store wrong, another PetSmart employee asked Schmidt to stop filming and told him that if he didn’t leave, the police would be called.
“Yes, we are going to fly the Pride flag,” said the worker. “We have it all over the store.”
Schmidt repeated “shame on Petco,” backing away, to which one employee replied, “It’s PetSmart.”
This was reported by a representative of PetSmart Insider that the business strives to “create an environment where every employee feels like they truly belong,” and they were proud of their employees for supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
“We are proud of our partners who de-escalated this situation and strengthened our commitment to the affiliation,” the spokesperson added.
In May, Schmidt said in a video that he likes it “Hunting for LGBT supporters” in his “free time”, calling it his “favorite” activity. He added that he was going to “hunt LGBT supporters all over Arizona and Phoenix” during Pride month.
“So, you know, watch it because you’re not safe,” he said. “If you support the LGBT agenda, you are not safe. You are not safe.’
He used to make a video of himself saying that he loved “persecuting” “cancer patients because they are weak and vulnerable” as well as people wearing masks.
In January, he was banned from entering the Arizona capital after he chased a crowd of masked people and racially abused Representative Reginald Bolding. AZ Central reported. Schmidt told the masked Bolding that he wore a “slave muzzle” and gave Nazi salutes to others.
Right-wing thug who threatened to ‘hunt’ LGBTQ+ people whines about pet store’s pride flag
