George Floyd

Man Arrested After Viral Video of Assault Over Racial Justice Flyers

He was charged with three counts of second-degree assault

NBCUniversal, Inc.

A man arrested in Maryland after being caught on video gripping a young woman's arm and ripping a racial justice flyer out of her hand, has been fired from a Pleasanton, California-based company.

Anthony Brennan III, 60, has been charged with three counts of second-degree assault.

The viral video of the situation shows Brennan confronting a woman with a racial justice flyer. She was in company of other young people who tried to defend her from the man.

A young man recorded the altercation, and says Brennan ran into him with his bike and pinned him to the ground.

“He sees me recording him and sees the fact that I recorded him as he was doing that, and he grabs his bike and he runs it into me and pins me to the ground,” the man said.

The video shows the cyclist rushing toward the man. Then the camera drops.

Brennan has since been fired from MadeToOrder, Inc. a creative marketing company based in the East Bay city of Pleasanton.

Anthony Brennan III

The company released a statement saying they have "zero tolerance for this behavior," and took the "immediate and decisive action" of firing Brennan.

You can read more about the company's decision in this Twitter thread:

Made to Order's CEO Sandy Gonzalez said "the indefensible conduct displayed by this individual counters our company's culture and commitments. We stand in solidarity with our black community."

In a statement released by his lawyers, 60-year-old Anthony Brennan III of Kensington, Maryland, said he is “sick with remorse for the pain and fear I caused the victims on the trail.”

Efforts on Social media to find the attacker prior to Friday’s arrest resulted in multiple men being wrongly identified as the attacker by Twitter users.

Online court records show Brennan was released from custody Saturday after posting bond.

Police said the incident occurred on the Capital Crescent Trail, which runs from Washington D.C. into Montgomery County, Maryland.

The three victims, between the ages of 18 and 19, said they were putting up flyers promoting justice for George Floyd. Bystander video showed a Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, ignoring his cries of “I can’t breathe.”

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