In the ultimate case of the ‘Florida Man’, a charter boat captain got into an altercation with a youth boater this week and the internet unleashed its power.
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An Altercation Escalates
In a video that surfaced this week – and then seemed to flood social media everywhere – a younger boater got into an altercation with Captain Brock Horner of Tarpon Coast Fishing Charters. The incident, for which the younger boater witnessed but was not personally involved in, was that another boater was fishing in limited light with no lights on his boat and the Charter Captain sped underneath a bridge too fast for the area.
Here’s the video (NSFW due to language):
The footage was furnished by Gage Towles. While he may have had an escalating tone initially while disputing Horner’s claims, “What are you trying to [expletive] do, bro?” he then quickly backs down and appears to attempt to mostly de-escalate the situation unsuccessfully.
Technically, It’s Piracy, But Also Assault
Declining to “chill, bro” Horner, who claims to be a veteran and on a boat filled with veterans boards Towles boat and commits assault according to Punta Gorda police. Horner was arrested and spent the night in jail according to reports.
The US Congress has some pretty wide-reaching laws
Ҥ1651. Piracy under law of nations
Whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life.
§1655. Assault on commander as piracy
Whoever, being a seaman, lays violent hands upon his commander, to hinder and prevent his fighting in defense of his vessel or the goods intrusted to him, is a pirate, and shall be imprisoned for life.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 774.)” – US Code, House of Representatives
While it’s technically piracy, assault is probably more appropriate and he did illegally board and threaten Towles. But boarding his boat seems to escalate it beyond simply attacking someone on the street. It’s also worth noting that many boaters are armed and the young man, clearly scared and visibly shaking, would have been well within his rights to defend himself including with a gun against an unarmed man.
Altercations like this take place all the time, but imagine being a customer on that charter boat and the captain leaving his ship, boarding the other while he’s shouting and threatening someone younger and clearly intimidated and scared for his safety. It was confirmed by some claiming to be on the charter ship at the time that they were not veterans as claimed, did not support the actions, did not engage with the Towles and called Horner back to the ship.
“The Punta Gorda Police Department has arrested 40-year-old Brock Horner. The charger boat captain at the center of a boat rage incident on Charlotte Harbor.
The Police Department says following an investigation Horner was arrested and charged with Burglary with Assault or Battery.
Police say after reviewing video evidence their marine unit established probably cause to charge Horner in connection with unlawful boarding and threats made during the altercation.
Police say “During the unauthorized entry, Horner reportedly threatened the victim, escalating the situation into a criminal offense.”
Gage Towels posted the video of the incident on social media and it’s now gained national attention, many online calling for the arrest after seeing the video.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the US Coast Guard are also conducting separate investigations.”
– Fox 4 (Charlotte, Florida)
The Internet Doxxes Captain
With tens of millions of views all over the web, netizens went into hyper sleuth mode and found just about everything out about Captain Brock Horner. The information is publicly available for those who want to explore more into this man’s past, but I will not do that here. What I will say is that it doesn’t appear to be out of character for the captain, but his past issues or even a lack of a record altogether wouldn’t change whether his actions were right or wrong.
Conclusion
It’s been just a couple of weeks since I reviewed a fantastic charter experience we had in the British Virgin Islands and the reason this site continues to report on great operators (and not so great ones) is to improve experiences for the traveling public. This captain, whether he was having a bad day or not, should not have “flown” through the area he admitted to doing whether others were in the area or not. He certainly should not have engaged with the Mr. Towles in the way he did prior to boarding the man’s boat, and never taking it to the extent that he did. He shouldn’t be in the business of serving the public, he endangered others, and should be out of business.
What do you think?
As you know this is a huge story on the Gulf Coast here in Florida. No justification for his actions and he’s lucky he wasn’t shot but I did read his attorneys statement. He definitely has some issues going on from his time in the service.
Hopefully he does his punishment and is allowed to move on, he is an America hero for his years of service and an America A-hole for his one day of stupidity.
Douchebag Dave Edwards, sorry to see your Brock Horner pseudonym get outed, maybe now that you’ll be spending less time on the water, you’ll get the help you so obviously and desperately need.
No. Why does being a veteran an excuse for terrible behavior. Hero please.
Did he have a history of violent arrests even before his time in the service?
He claims in the video that he is a Ranger, and so are the other people on his boat, is that true?
Does he claim to be disabled from his time in the service in order to receive compensation from the taxpayers, while also claiming in that video that he’s very capably working 300 days per year?
Any honest person who served in the US military and is living life as decent person gets my respect, but this guy doesn’t get it.
I know veterans with missing limbs that work full time, but they still receive disability. Veterans receive disability compensation for medical issues that were caused by their service, as well as health care coverage. Being able to work or not is not related. This is a different system than say, Social Security Disability Insurance that requires your disability to prevent you from being able to work. The programs just do different things. Veteran disability compensation is just that, compensation.
Playing the Veteran card? GFY MAGA white male entitled idiot. I’m sure the Orange loser will pardon this mentally unstable moron. Florida man…
Listen here buddy, we don’t want to hear about Trump all the time.
We understand that he pays you lotsa rent to be there but we don’t get a dime from him.
Please leave Trump outa the things that have nothing to do with him.
Thank you and enjoy your muchos rent that you are getting from Trump!
MAGA bullshit aside, this guy gives us “normal” veterans a bad name. If you whip out the V card to justify being a fuckwad, you’re immediately a piece of shit. Period. No questions asked. I didn’t retire from the service to have my service denigrated by shitstains like this motherfucker use our name in vain. Fuck him. I hope he gets exactly what he deserves, which is getting superfucked by the law. Or better yet, shot the next time he pulls this kind of stunt.
But is he a “normal veteran “? His attorney said he suffered damages in Afghanistan and is considered disabled by the government. Look I’m not defending his actions that day but not everyone who uses the Vet card is a POS.
How about the homeless vets from Vietnam who came back broke, addicted and mentally damaged that ended up on the streets. Are the POS to you as well if they hold up a Vet sign while begging?
The VA is currently very generous with its full disability criteria and I’ve seen mention of private FB groups where they help veterans figure out how to best, um, let’s call it ‘navigate that system’.
I am genuinely curious about his receiving 100% VA disability benefits from a TBI. While I totally respect his service, my understanding is that 100% disability means unable to hold gainful employment. Yet he’s a charter boat captain with a successful business and the physical ability to jump across to a nearby boat. Does this add up?
State charges (which appear to apply here) can’t be pardoned by the president. (I can’t imagine DeSantis issuing a pardon here.)
Sounds like you suffer from white envy.
And thats PRESIDENT “orange idiot” to you.
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Race: White, Non Hispanic
Residential Address:
Punta Gorda Fl 33980
Party Affiliation: Republican Party
Registered to Vote In: Charlotte County, FL
Voter Status: Active
Bridges and channels have wake limits to avoid incidents like this. In the Chesapeake bay boating carnage has also occurred from boaters attempting to cross open water without running lights. Both are serious infractions. Rage is something to be avoided when operating anything. There are times I despise the internet as it has become a dangerous court of public opinion. Let the coast guard, marine police sort the facts and punishments.
That said I have two long acquaintances with deep sea charter captains. No one has ever behaved like this.
Moe. Thank You!
While it’s consistent with his personality I don’t understand why the guy allowed guns on his boat for a fishing trip. Were they expecting to meet a fleet of actual pirates? Maybe they wanted more weight to sink if they fell overboard. Or maybe they just wanted to shoot some porpoises. Whichever reason is correct they come across looking like raving nutbags.
As to the kid, I’m glad it looks like he’ll get a measure of justice.