San Diego gym ratings tank after pics of the apparent owner's Nazi shirt go viral

Internet users flooded Google, Facebook, and Yelp with bad reviews of a MetroFlex gym near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego on Tuesday after an image purporting to show the owner in an American-themed Nazi T-shirt went viral on Reddit.

The Reddit post, titled “Metroflex gym owner wearing Nazi BS shirt openly. Miramar Ca [sic],” appeared on the SanDiego, SanDiegan, and MarchAgainstNazis subreddits on Tuesday and includes what it says is an image of the gym’s owner from behind wearing a black T-shirt featuring the double lightning bolt insignia of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary organization, decorated with the stars and stripes of the U.S. flag.

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Following the posts, which garnered over a thousand upvotes and hundreds of largely upset comments—the gym’s Google ratings plummeted from 3.2 stars to just above 1 star by Wednesday morning.

“How do accidentally wear that shirt,” one Google user wrote. “SSomething SSeemed off with the owners attitude,” wrote another.

Its Facebook page hovered just above 1.5 stars.

Yelp also temporarily disabled the ability to post on MetroFlex Miramar’s page due to “increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page.”

The owner of MetroFlex Miramar, meanwhile, took to Instagram late Tuesday to address the controversy, writing that he failed to consider the implications of his shirt.

Apologizing alongside a blank image, the Instagram profile posted, “I foolishly purchased & wore a shirt that mongers hate. Originally interpreting the shirt as reflecting being rooted in ‘America’ and love for the Flag, I was clearly not thinking about all interpretations of the design.”

In the wake of the controversy, Brian Dobson—the owner of the MetroFlex gym chain based in Arlington, Texas—told Constant Feed he’d woken up to “100 emails” that were “mostly directly attacking me.”

He said MetroFlex is based on “Christian values and principles.

“I personally am as far from being a Nazi as the east is from the west,” Dobson added, threatening punitive action against the owner of the Miramar franchise.

“If [the owner of MetroFlex Miramar] truly is what hes being accused of and wants to promote Nazi apparel we will take steps to remove our brand,” said Dobson.

One Reddit user claimed the shirt is from an apparel brand called “Curb Stomp MFG” and linked to another Reddit post featuring a man wearing the same shirt in Temecula, CA. While that clothing brand does sell Nazi-themed apparel, the shirt from the Reddit post was not on its website.