Retired UFC veteran Matt Brown did not hold back after hearing Dana White describe last weekend’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner as “awesome.”
White was inside the Washington Hilton ballroom on Saturday night when a 31 year old gunman reportedly broke through security and opened fire, injuring a Secret Service agent before being stopped.
The UFC CEO later described the chaos as “f*cking awesome,” comments that quickly sparked backlash online.
Brown, who survived the infamous 2004 shooting during a Damageplan concert in Columbus, said White’s reaction crossed a line. In an interview with MMA Fighting he said
“I’ve been there when there was a shooting going on, which most people probably haven’t,” Brown told MMA Fighting. “It is not awesome in any sense of the word. It is not f*cking cool one bit.”
“For him to say that, I did not appreciate that. Not that my opinion matters whether I appreciate it, but there’s people whose lives are at risk there.”
Brown continued by pointing to the Secret Service agent who was shot during the incident.
“That really blows my mind that someone would say that shit like that was awesome. A dude got shot. Maybe he survived, but got shot. That’s a traumatic experience for him.”
“There’s not a single f*cking thing awesome about that. People don’t need to be going around shooting people and there’s nothing cool about that.”
Brown recalls surviving deadly 2004 concert shooting
Brown’s reaction comes from personal experience. Back in 2004, the longtime UFC welterweight was inside the nightclub when a gunman stormed the stage during a Damageplan concert. Four people were killed, including legendary guitarist Dimebag Darrell.
Brown witnessed the shooting firsthand and also saw the moment police ended the attack.
“I watched [Nathan Gale] get his head blown off when Officer [James] Niggemeyer [shot him], which you’ve got to give him all the respect in the world,” Brown said.
“That dude’s life has been traumatized by this incident.”
Brown praised the officer for making a split second decision while the shooter held a hostage.
“He had to come in and he had to make a decision in about two or three seconds because the shooter had a hostage.”
“He has to make a decision do I pull the trigger or not?”
“What a situation for him. He wasn’t even on duty. He was an off-duty officer who was just in the area or something and saw the call. He comes in and his whole life changed right there.”
“A traumatic experience for a lot of people”
Brown said the psychological impact of a mass shooting extends far beyond the people physically injured.
“That was a traumatic experience for a lot of people.”
“Not even just the people that witnessed people get shot or the people that actually had to shoot like Officer Niggemeyer.”
He also questioned why anyone would frame an active shooter situation as entertaining.
“I think it’s very disrespectful to say that was an awesome experience for anyone.”
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