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That’s a hell of a fight. But what was it about?
Alan Ritchson was involved in a physical confrontation over the weekend.
A violent video shows the Titans, Reacher, and War Machine actor appearing to knock a neighbor into next week.
But a follow-up report provides what may be some pretty essential context.
The Alan Ritchson video is intense
TMZ published footage from an incident on Sunday, March 22.
The video offers almost no context — but shows actor Alan Ritchson in a physical fight with another man.
This apparent brawl appears one-sided during the limited run of the video.
We can see the actor eventually ride off on his motorcycle, which was previously on the asphalt and then the grass.
Two children — reportedly his children — ride behind him on their own bikes, not participating in the fight.
According to what the alleged victim, Ronnie Taylor, told TMZ, this started on Saturday, with Taylor, irritated by the sound of Ritchson riding by on his green Kawasaki motorcycle, flipped off the actor.
Taylor says that Ritchson returned the gesture, but there is no confirmation of this.
On Sunday, around noon, the actor rode by, this time accompanied by the two kids — each on their own bikes.
Taylor has claimed that he simply approached Ritchson to demand: “Can you f–king stop this please.”
In his filing with police, Taylor claims that Ritchson punched him in the face and kicked him and also struck him in the back of the head. Though he did not go to the hospital, he did report bruises and swelling.
In an investigation, details matter
According to a follow-up report, Ronnie Taylor isn’t exactly some random victim of suburban motorcycle road rage.
Sources told the outlet that Taylor bolted into the street to intercept Ritchson on his motorcycle in a “really aggressive” manner.
Though thankfully both children avoided a crash, Ritchson did not. He crashed, suffering cuts and bruises and a minor injury to his finger.
Taylor reportedly yelled at the actor, even yelling at him to hit him. Ritchson declined to take the bait, and climbed up onto his motorcycle to depart.
This, the report says, is when Taylor shoved Ritchson off of his motorcycle.
Apparently, this is where the video picks up — with Taylor learning the consequences of his alleged actions.
It is unclear why only part of the confrontation was published.
Perhaps Taylor was the one who provided the video.
Alternatively, it is possible that someone only began recording at this stage of the conflict.
Regardless, since Taylor seems to be pressing charges, one can only hope that authorities will have more than one statement and a short video as they investigate.
He might not be able to share HIS side of the story (due to the investigation)
Social media replies are not quite sharply divided between people who have seen the video and people who have seen the follow-up report.
Yes, there are people who saw the video and nothing else, but incurious;y chalked things up to “‘roid rage.”
Others have been asking sensible questions — like what led to the motorcycle being on its side in the middle of the road, for example.
Perhaps Taylor has answers to these questions. Only time will tell.
For now, we’ve heard both sides of the story. One says that an actor decided to pause a bike ride with his kids to inflict violence upon a rude neighbor. The other says that a rude neighbor accosted an actor, shoving him onto the asphalt more than once, and then received a beatdown.
It will be interesting to eventually hear Ritchson’s version of events — though he will likely be unable to speak on the topic due to pending litigation.
