‘Answer for what he did,’ millions view video of alleged assault on North Carolina referee
CONCORD, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A Virginia man will have to turn himself into Cabarrus County authorities after he was videoed allegedly shoving a referee at a wrestling match in Concord.
Court documents detail that the incident happened on June 22nd, at the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord.
The referee in the video, Sean, told Queen City News that he believed the shove happened after the man seen in the video did not approve of a call he made during a match.
In a video posted on TikTok, now viewed more than 23 million times, Sean explained that he was attempting to stop an illegal move.
“You can hear me say, ‘Let go of the leg, let go of the leg,’” Sean explained to Queen City News Friday afternoon.
Sean, who has worked as a referee for years, said he’s never had anything like this happen before.
“Parents yell, and that’s normal, but they don’t normally come on the mat. . . .You know, I wasn’t expecting that at all,” he said.
At the beginning of the match on Saturday, the man, later identified as Joshua Hammond, had reportedly complained to Sean that the wrestler he was with had been poked in the eye during the match.
“[Hammond] was complaining, you know, saying ‘he got poked in the eye’ and he was kind of getting loud, but that’s pretty normal. . . I didn’t see him get poked, but the wrestler took his 90-second break, and then continued.”
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This is where the video begins.
Sean blew his whistle to correct an illegal move being performed.
It was at this time, that a man, who is allegedly Hammond, could be seen walking onto the mat and shoving Sean several feet.
The man was ejected from the tournament.
Sean was not hurt but quickly took out charges with Cabarrus County authorities.
He later posted the video on TikTok with a breakdown of what happened.
He told Queen City News he “wanted him to answer for what he did. And at first, we couldn’t find him. But then once I posted it, I got some more information.”
Deputies with the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia notified Sean that they had recognized the individual in the video to be Hammond.
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Court records indicate he was arrested and bonded out.
He is not expected to turn himself in to authorities in Cabarrus County.
Sean said he still loves to ref and teach the next generation of great wrestlers.
He’ll now do so with a little more awareness of those just outside the mat.
“Changing my approach. I think I may put my head on more swivel when I’m on the mound, especially if there’s parents in the corner getting loud.”
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