Right-wing thug who threatened to ‘hunt’ LGBTQ+ people whines about pet store’s pride flag

A right-wing thug, who once threatened to “hunt” LGBTQ+ people, was kicked out of a pet store after complaining to staff about a “satanic” Pride flag display. 

A video filmed by Ethan Schmidt – shared on Twitter by PatriotTakes, which monitors right-wing extremism, and also identified Schmidt – showed the provocateur confronting PetSmart staff about a pride flag displayed above a checkout counter. 

In the video, Schmidt, who is the founder of a group called the Anti-Maskers Club, asked a worker at the register to take down the flag because it “offends” him “greatly”. The worker was having none of his antics and quickly called for a manager.

He described the flag as “satanic” and repeated his so-called concerns when the manager eventually arrived. 

But the manager immediately shot down Schmidt’s request for the flag to be removed and said it represented “belonging” to the LGBTQ+ community. 

Schmidt then incorrectly alleged the flag “stands for” “paedophilia and child sexualisation” before requesting the flag be removed yet again.

“I’m very offended, and I would like it to be taken down,” Schmidt whined. “Respect your customers and please take it down for me.” 

However, the manager pointed the right-winger toward the door and asked Schmidt to leave because “we are supportive of LGBTQ+ people here”.

“That’s the rainbow from Satan,” Schmidt responded, though no one was listening. “The real rainbow is from God.” 

PetSmart manager stands up to Kari Lake supporter Ethan Schmidt, 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 incorrectly calling the store Petco, another PetSmart worker asked Schmidt to stop filming and said the police would be called if he didn’t leave. 

“Yeah, we’re going to have the Pride flag up,” the worker said. “We have it all over our store.”

Schmidt repeated “shame on Petco” while backing away to which one employee responded: “This is PetSmart.”

A PetSmart spokesperson told Insider that the business strives to “create an environment where every associate feels like they truly belong”, and they were proud of the workers for standing in support of the LGBTQ+ community. 

“We are proud of our associates who deescalated this situation and reinforced our commitment to belonging,” the spokesperson added. 

In May, Schmidt said in a video that he liked to “hunt LGBT supporters” in his “free time”, calling it his “favourite” pastime. He added that he was going to be “hunting the LGBT supporters across Arizona and Phoenix” during Pride month. 

“So, you know, keep an eye out for that because you’re not safe,” he said. “If you support the LGBT agenda, you’re not safe. You’re not safe.” 

He previously filmed himself saying he loves “harassing” “cancer patients because they’re weak and vulnerable” as well as people wearing masks. 

In January, he was banned from the Arizona Capital after he harassed numerous people wearing face masks and made a racial slur towards Black representative Reginald Bolding, AZ Central reported. Schmidt told a masked Bolding that he was wearing a “slave muzzle” and made Nazi salutes to others.