Wes Watson an ex-con, self-admitted former [white] prison gang shot-caller turned fitness influencer was involved in the beating of an autistic man at Elev8tion Fitness located at 1625 N Miami Avenue in Miami, FL. A highly edited video was published by Mr. Watson on his Instagram with a completely false narrative of what transpired.
I went ahead and weighed in on the StrengthAddicts Instagram and tagged the gym. At this point, the gym’s owner Angel L. Bajana left a series of comments backing up Mr. Watson’s recollection of the events. Mr. Bajana then went on to state that the police saw the full video and asked Mr. Watson if he wanted to press charges.
Even with only watching the highly edited video, I was of the strong impression that Mr. Watson was guilty of felony battery. As a licensed, practicing attorney, I could not believe that any law enforcement agency could view said footage and classify Mr. Watson’s behavior as amounting to valid self-defense or even, mutual combat. It was a prison yard beating caught on video; however, Mr. Bajana insisted that Mr. Watson tried to deescalate the situation, that he tried to avoid a confrontation, that he was pushed and it was at that point that Mr. Watson fought back. That whole narrative was apparently a lie.
Mr. Bajana lied to me and my audience. Then he lied to Jon Bravo Films knowing he was working on a story on the matter. Johnny Bravo didn’t want to paint the gym in a false light. He wanted to make a balanced, objective video and gave Mr. Bajana an opportunity to come clean. That’s far beyond what’s required of journalists. A good journalist merely needs to fact-check and do their due diligence. Jon Bravo Films went above and beyond. And what did Mr. Bajana do? He lied – again. Because when you keep salient details from an incident and when you try to push false narratives – that’s dishonest. And anything that’s not a truthful statement – is a lie. And folks who speak lies, are liars.
But it doesn’t end there. When I pressed Mr. Bajana about the high likelihood that Elev8tion Fitness would be sued by the autistic man who we now know was (1) struck by Mr. Watson with a weighted belt in the face, (2) had his hair pulled by Mr. Watson, (3) had his eyes gauged by Mr. Watson, (4) was struck 9x in the head by Mr. Watson with closed fists, (5) took a soccer kick to the head by Mr. Watson, (6) was struck by Mr. Watson’s friends while on the floor, (7) all at Elev8tion Fitness , Mr. Bajana said “I absolutely know how this works.” What does that mean? He made that statement following “[w]hatever I say in publicly I’ll say in court.” Does that sound like perjury to you? Does it sound like Mr. Bajana has perjured himself before? It certainly sounds like intent to me. The word “I’ll” speaks to future behavior.
If Jon Bravo Films’ reporting is accurate and Mr. Bajana is knowingly lying on social media and on interviews that’s one thing, but if he states “I’ll say it in court… I know how this works,” that’s egregious.
I can’t imagine that Miami Dade County Police and/or Miami Police (whichever agency has jurisdiction) actually watched this “fight” video and surmised that Mr. Watson acted in self-defense. I also can’t imagine that they would ask Mr. Watson if he wanted to press charges on the victim that was ambulanced to the hospital. I also can’t imagine that the State Attorney’s office doesn’t have enough to charge and convict Mr. Watson. A first year law student could get a conviction working in a mock trial competition.
That said, the criminal court aside, if the victim of Mr. Watson’s brutal beating wanted to file suit on Mr. Watson and Elev8tion Fitness, I want to make Mr. Bajana’s public comments from his verified Instagram account readily available for discovery purposes. This way if Mr. Bajana follows through and lies in court that plaintiff’s counsel impeach him and move for contempt, sanctions, and attorney fees.
Mr. Bajana owns four gyms and does very well for himself. Mr. Watson purportedly earns $2 million a month from all streams of income. I’m sure that an aggressive personal injury firm won’t have any trouble making their client whole again and making the guilty parties pay dearly. I would also hope that plaintiff’s counsel would ask for punitive damages. And that’s where Elev8tion would really feel the pain. Because not only does it seem that they knowingly allow a dangerous thug to work out of their gym, but the gym’s owner goes on social media to back up this lunatic and spread lies to cover up a story with a completely concocted false narrative. That’s bad faith and that kind of outrageous behavior shocks the conscience. The purpose of punitive damages is to send a message and I hope the Court uses Elev8tion Fitness as an example for all others to take notice of. Show them the power of the gavel.
