A recording of a recent hate crime has landed a licensed physical therapist from Louisiana in trouble as he got caught harassing a Black man for merely existing. Apparently, racist behavior and slurs were even thrown in, all because the Black man was fishing in a neighborhood pond. The video of the confrontation has since gone viral, with many condemning the therapist’s actions.
The incident occurred in a subdivision in Walker, Louisiana, around mid-December. A Black man who lives in the neighborhood decided to fish in a pond– legally, as he apparently had permission to do so. However, out of nowhere, the drunk man in the pickup truck drove up to the Black man, allegedly called him racial slurs, and even harassed him by trying to drive him out of the subdivision:
In the video, you can see the therapist, identified as Matt Madere of Ace Physical Therapy, already in his pickup truck, trying to force the Black man off the road. According to the Black man, Madere was visibly drunk and even repeatedly called him racial slurs, saying “[expletive] don’t belong back there,” while he was just fishing. Madere supposedly wanted the Black man out of the subdivision as “he owns the neighborhood.”
A follow-up video also details how Madere stepped out of his vehicle to threaten the Black man and his companion physically. By the end of the confrontation, Madere can be seen speeding away off-road, presumably after failing to scare away the Black man. Thankfully, it appears Madere’s hate crime victims were physically unharmed during the incident.
People online have condemned the physical therapist
While the Black man from the subdivision was physically unharmed, people online still worried about the notion of having a neighbor like Madere. Some have also wondered whether Madere was even qualified to be a physical therapist after his rather reckless actions: “How can someone like this treat patients?” questions an X user.
Madere’s Facebook account and his business page were quickly identified as well, and at the time of writing, many viewers have likely called the numbers on their page to protest about the therapist’s recent behavior. Certain commenters have given Madere the benefit of the doubt, saying, “Don’t judge a person’s character based on what they do while they’re drunk,” but eventually appended their statement with, “That said, there is no excuse for this [racism].”
Of course, many commenters and online folks were simply appalled that people like Madere still exist in this day and age. Madere, in particular, has explicitly described himself as “A grounded Christian who believes strongly in family values,” in his business profile. “It’s almost 2026 and it’s baffling we still have people like this in our world. And they reproduce and raise up more racists,” worries a commenter.
