Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson went viral last week after he punched a fellow airplane passenger in the face on a recent JetBlue flight. In a clip of the incident, the victim of Tyson’s wrath continues to taunt the 55-year-old athlete until he grows so fed up he snaps.
But Ice-T doesn’t necessarily see anything wrong with Tyson’s reaction. On Thursday (April 21), the gangsta rap pioneer suggested people have become so comfortable spewing their vitriol on social media, they forget there are real life consequences when doing it in person.
“Mike Tyson punched somebody who was Fn with him,” Ice-T tweeted. “The problem is nowadays, MFs think they WON’T get punched in the Facc.” He added, “Yep….. But that’s the Fn TRUTH! Clownass forgot he was NOT behind his keyboard. If Dumbfucks said the type of Shit they say to me on HERE Face to Face….. I know I’d be in Prison.” He included an alleged quote from Tyson that reads, “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
The man, who TMZ later identified as Melvin Townsend III, was sitting behind Tyson when he was captured on video heckling the fighter. Tyson is initially able to ignore Townsend’s antics, but he eventually swings on him for throwing a bottle at his head. Townsend has since lawyered up, with his attorney Matt Morgan describing Townsend as nothing more than an “overly excited fan.”
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Morgan added, “At a certain point, Mr. Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner. This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr. Tyson.”
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Townsend reportedly has an extensive criminal record, which includes convictions of crimes such as fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances and trafficking in stolen property. In 2018, the 36-year-old broke onto a property and stole a trailer he hitched to his pickup, while the drug possession charge was for oxycodone. He served time twice — once for 20 months and another time for 15 months.
Townsend declined to press charges and both he and Tyson were free to leave after the incident, but a source close to the man says he’s “still in shock and has not made a determination on what his next steps will be. He hired counsel due to his physical injuries, the overwhelming nature of this event and the associated media inquiries.”
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HipHopDX has reached out to Ice-T for further comment.
