Man Involved In Chris Christie Incident Apologizes, Explains What Went Down

The man who was involved in an incident with New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, at Sunday's Cubs-Brewers game is giving his side of the encounter.

Brad Joseph posted a long recap of the events that took place before, during and after the confrontation on his Facebook page. According to Joseph, things got started when he spotted Christie at a concession stand.

"Some other fans at the game were already heckling him, so I yelled his name and he turned around, at which point I shouted “You Suck!” and then I sat back down. A few minutes passed and he returned to his seat. He got a few rows farther down from where I was sitting and he paused for awhile; there was nobody blocking his path and no reason for him to be blocking the aisle and our view of the game. At this point I told Christie that he was a “hypocrite.”

I was seated at the end of our row, and Christie turned around and made his way up the few steps that separated us. As he approached he looked at me and said “Have another beer,” which caused me to laugh, since I thought it was a decent comeback under the circumstances despite the fact we hadn't been drinking at all, but Christie quickly made it clear that he wasn't joking around. He came a few inches from my face and began to call me a “big shot,” and a “tough guy,” and asking “what are you gonna do now?” He was close enough that I could feel his breath on my face as he shouted at me. He never denied being a hypocrite. Then, his right foot stepped well outside of the aisle and into our row, and he began to hit my leg with his knee in an aggressive fashion.

At this point I heard someone ask “what is going on?” to which I turned and calmly replied, “well, this guy is accosting me.” Christie was incredulous at this characterization of the interaction, despite the fact that he was the one who initiated physical contact, and despite the fact that his tone and conduct were intended to provoke a reaction to which his security detail could respond. I sat calmly in the back of my chair as Christie became frustrated with my refusal to turn a verbal confrontation into a physical one. After calling me a big shot a few more times, he relented and turned away, as I thanked him for his opinion."

Joseph went on to explain that politics were not the reason he heckled the controversial governor. It was hypocrisy. He also issued an apology to Christie for his actions.

"I'm not proud of my behavior today and I regret shouting “you suck!” at Christie. So Chris, if you're reading this, I'm sorry. I didn't have much time to think of anything to say, and I wanted to express my displeasure with you. I could have done better than “you suck.” What I do not regret is calling Chris Christie a hypocrite. This is a man who made a career out of demonizing public corruption only to become exactly what he denounced.

Many people on social media have assumed that I must be a liberal or democrat, but I want to be clear that this was not about republicans or democrats. I am a registered republican and I voted for Donald Trump, but my politics do not fit conveniently into one box or another. I do think that Chris Christie is an embarrassment to the party and his ties to Trump during the campaign gave me great cause for concern. During a discussion last year before the election, where I argued that Hillary Clinton ought to be prosecuted for her corruption, a friend challenged me about corruption within the republican party, and specifically asked about Chris Christie. I said then that it doesn't matter which party someone is from, the system breaks down if we ignore hard evidence of corruption because the person happens to share our opinions on some other issue. That friend told me today that I put my money where my mouth is by calling out Chris Christie in public."

You can read Joseph's entire post, including his thoughts on what the past 24 hours have been like for him, here.