BELLMAWR, New Jersey (PNN) - January 14, 2021 - A New Jersey gym owner released a video on Wednesday announcing the state had just seized all $165,000 of his company’s assets.

Atilis Gym in Bellmawr was in the news several times throughout 2020 for defying unlawful State COVID-19 lockdown orders on the grounds that they are unconstitutional.

The owner of the gym, Ian Smith, explained how fascist New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy confiscated the funds amid ongoing litigation between Atilis Gym and the State.

On Tuesday, the gym was notified it will face a fine of over $15,000 each day the business chooses to open its doors.

Smith told his nearly 250,000 Instagram followers, “As of this morning, without warning and without permission and in the middle of litigation, Governor Murphy took it upon himself to (illegally) empty our bank account entirely to the tune of $165,000. As we do not charge our members, and have not charged our members since April 1, we have fought this legal battle and paid our bills entirely on donations from you guys as well as T-shirt and merchandise sales in-store and online.”

“This will not stop us,” Smith continued. “We will not stand down. We will continue to fight this fight because we know, based upon what is outlined in the Constitution, that when we get to the right courts and in front of a judge who respects the Constitution we will win this case and we will make sure that no governor or government official will ever again wield these powers.”

In his Instagram post, Smith also noted the gym recently passed 105k visits and has not reported any COVID outbreaks.