The video, shared by a popular Tiktok fishing account, @Fishn_Shi, showed the man trying to get the teenagers to leave. “You’re trespassing on private property,” he said, accompanied by a couple of senior citizens. One of the teenagers recording the interaction responded, “Don’t threaten me! Back off from me.”
The viral clip, which has more than 1 million views, shows an angry man breaking a teenager’s fishing rod in half
Share icon Image credits: fishn_shi The man paced back and forth, visibly angry over being recorded, until he got in front of the camera and threatened to throw the phone into the lake. “Yeah? Then I’ll press charges,” the teenager retorted. “We’re just gonna wait for the cops. We’re not going to mess with anything.” At this point, the situation escalated as the man quickly lost his temper and started to shout. “You’re fishing in a private lake!” he yelled. “I’m gonna prosecute, and you’re going to pay all kinds of money because you’re being a d–k.” “He’s our president! He’s on the board!” a woman could be heard saying in the background. The heated discussion got worse when one of the kids attempted to resume fishing. This led to the viral moment when, enraged and frustrated, the man snatched the rod—claimed to cost $200—from the teenager’s hands and broke it in half.
After the clip went viral, internet “investigators” quickly discovered the man’s identity
Share icon Image credits: fishn_shi The clip, in which the kids also claim the man was drunk and called him a “Karen” (an internet slang usually reserved for middle-aged women being rude), quickly spread across the internet. It was posted on platforms like X, Reddit, and YouTube, drawing widespread condemnation. Many criticized the man’s excessive reaction and aggressive behavior toward the minors. A group of dedicated internet sleuths even took it upon themselves to uncover the man’s identity, and what they found out only added to the outrage. Share icon Image credits: fishn_shi Dubbed “HOA Larry” by some after the Home Owners Association of America, the man was identified by an X user as Matt Webster, a committee chair for the Haiti Outreach Program in Knoxville, Tennessee, a charity focused on children’s welfare. This revelation added another layer of criticism, with people questioning Webster’s actions in light of his charitable work. “Matt Webster. Works for a Catholic organization that ensures underserved children have provisions and care. He’s a genuine peach, huh?” said one user on Tiktok. A commenter on YouTube also added, “He is committee chairman of the Haiti Outreach Program. Just think about how he treats those poor little black kids.”
Users have also debated the legal aspects of the conflict, questioning the “private” aspect of the pond
Share icon It’s important to note that, according to Tennessee laws, fishing in private waters requires you to be a landowner or part of the immediate family of one. Third parties, such as tenants, can only fish with the permission of the landowner. Regardless, some disputed the private aspect of the waters where the kids were fishing, as one user noted, “So that’s not a private lake. the state owns the water…so as long as you’re in the water and possibly the bank he can’t say anything.” Another netizen claimed to have pinpointed the location of the houses present in the video, writing, “Looks like there is only one lake in Admirals Landing. And based on the houses, they were behind this house 9824 St Germaine Dr Knoxville.” The lake in question is Fort Loudoun Lake, whose waters are indeed public, but the particular pond the teenagers were fishing in appears to be part of the Admiral’s Landing community’s private area. Image credits: fishn_shi
The incident caught the attention of fellow internet personality TizzyEnt, who bought the kids a brand-new fishing rod
While the video didn’t show the full resolution of the conflict or the arrival of the police, popular music video director Michael McWhorter (TizzyEnt) uploaded a clip explaining that he talked to the teenagers involved. — TizzyEnt (@TizzyEnt) July 5, 2024 McWhorter confirmed that the kids’ parents have chosen not to press charges. Additionally, he revealed that he purchased the teen a brand-new fishing rod to replace the one broken by Webster.
From wanting the man to be arrested to urging him to repay the kids for the broken rod, users online shared their sentiments
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