Report: Former ETSU student arrested at BLM rally in 2016 involved in fascist ‘fight club’

An investigative report in Middle Tennessee shows a former ETSU student arrested in a gorilla suit with a banana in a noose at a Black Lives Matter rally in 2016 is involved with a white supremacist group recruiting members through MMA and fight training called Active Club.

As first reported by WTVF and noted by Kingsport digital creator Ceda Jones, Tristan Retkke, who now goes by the name of Sporty and works as an EMT, was involved what they called a neo-Nazi fight club at a compound in Lynchburg, Virginia earlier this year. , according to The Guardian.

In a Washington County, Tennessee court hearing in 2017, Retkke, flanked by his family in the courtroom, was found not guilty of civil rights intimidation at the ETSU event. The incident made national headlines when cell phone footage showed Retkke in overalls barefoot dangling a banana in front of the BLM group members at Borchuck Plaza while also holding a burlap sack with a Confederate flag on the side.

Retkke faces no criminal charges and refused to comment on the story that aired and was published online in July of this year.

(Contributed photo)