HOUSTON – The man in cell phone video seen calling two soldiers “killers” in a Walmart said he’s sorry for being “brash,” but he stands by his comment.
A customer at Walmart located on South Rice captured the encounter last month. A man wearing a neon outfit is seen verbally attacking two soldiers in the aisle.
Elliot Mes, 41, said he admits he shouldn’t have acted the way he did.
"I know what I said was brash, and I will apologize, I will,” Mes said. “I did, I said what I said, I said that they were trash, I did, I will admit it and I will apologize if I offended anybody.”
Mes said it wasn't seen on video, but he was upset with the soldiers after he asked them a question.
“I just asked him a normal question, ‘How is Trump treating you?',” he said. “The answer that they gave me was that they were happy with their first and 15th check, and being that I’m a man that hasn't worked like that for somebody, my family has provided that stability for me I thought that was a very stereotypical comment coming from a black individual.”
The 41-year-old, who said he has family who has served in the military, said he thought it was a dig and that’s why he lashed out.
“I apologize for it coming out so brash and so bluntly, I didn't mean for it to go like that,” he said.
The two Army recruiters, Staff Sgt. Santevius Davis and Staff Sgt. Linda Bates, received praise for how they remained calm.
"I serve so that all Americans can express themselves,” explained Bates in an interview with KPRC.
Mes said he has mixed emotions about the military agenda overseas, but appreciates they keep him safe at home. In regards to his comments on calling them, “killers,” he said, “You are killing somebody if you stop their life, and you have to live with that.”
“I’m not going to lie, I am very animated, maybe I’m a little over-arrogant or confident and when you’re right and know you’re telling the truth, the truth hurts,” said Mes in regards to his beliefs about war and violence.
He said he does want to apologize to the soldiers and would agree to meet with them to do so.
“Truthful though, I was brash and like they said, I will admit, their mother said there’s a time and place," in reference to what Staff Sgt. Davis said in a prior interview. "My mother would say the same exact thing I’m not condoning everything I did.”