BURNS, Ore. -- As the standoff at the wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon continues, one of the protesters has suggested using his sumo wrestling skills to settle the matter.
Kelly Gneiting, who kiddingly depicts himself as the “big brother” of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, says they could solve everything with a sumo bout.
Background: Armed occupation at Ore. wildlife refuge
Gneiting, who apparently thinks he looks like Christie, taunted the presidential hopeful in a bizarre video posted on YouTube, which quickly started circulating on social media.
"I know mom gave us both girl names, but I wanna see who the real sissy is," says Gneiting, who is not actually related to Christie. "Because you got out in front of the cameras the other day, and you talked about how you'd like to see the strong arm of the law to disperse these good folks in Oregon.”
As if the odd message isn’t enough, Gneiting wears nothing but a self-described diaper, slaps his bare skin and does a lot of grunting and crouching to add an exclamation point to his statement.
“Let's slap bellies. I’m talking about 10 bouts,” Gneiting says, with another couple smacks to his belly. “You win one out of those 10, all these good, Constitutional folks will disperse…But if I win all 10, I get to roll you down the stairs in that sleeping bag again. Woo hoo, little Christie!”
Gneiting is among the group of protesters who have encamped themselves at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since Jan. 2. The anti-government activists say they want to expose how the government has mistreated local ranchers by forcing them off their land.
“Let’s go to war over who’s right. Let’s go to war over the Constitution and for momma’s love,” Gneiting concludes in the video.
Turns out, Gneiting actually has some muscle behind his demands; he’s not just a cold man in a loincloth. Gneiting is a five-time U.S. champion sumo wrestler. He also graduated cum laude with a master’s degree in geology from the University of Idaho.
In a 2014 interview with the Orange County Register, he says sumo wrestling is the purest form of competition and should be taken more seriously in the U.S.
Gneiting has also hired a licensing company to sell the YouTube video for any broadcast use.
As for Christie, he has not commented publicly on the special sumo challenge. However, in early January, he did discuss the occupation briefly, in an interview on CNN.
"In the end, the job of government is to enforce the law and make sure people are following the law," he said.
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