Norris Sweidan, owner of Warrior One Guns & Ammo in Riverside, Calif., appears to be one of the only targets of Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest show to make the comedian sweat as he tried to prank him.
In an apparent attempt to mock Sweidan, Cohen showed up to his store disguised as a motorcycle gang member and started to ask about buying a gun. However, Sweidan said he knew something wasn’t right as soon as Cohen opened his mouth.
"He comes in, off the bat you can see in the video I’m looking like, this guy does not look like a Hungarian immigrant, tight ass leather pants, a beard, it just didn’t fit," Sweidan told Fox 11 after sharing security footage of the encounter with them. "The moment his words came out of his mouth I was like this guy is full of s—t. I’m looking at the producer, and I’m just like, am I being fooled right here? And I just kept looking at the guy and I was like you’re Borat. As soon as I said that his eyes just looked at me like, and he did a turn right out the door."
After Cohen left, Sweidan tried to talk to the Showtime crew that was there to film the interaction but they wouldn’t answer his question so he kicked them out of the store.
"We’re talking to the people, they don’t wanna give us an answer, we basically told them to get the f—k out," Sweidan told the news station. "You guys are all full of s—t. Have a great day. Get out."
He said he isn’t one to be messed with and he doesn’t appreciate Cohen trying to mock gun owners.
"The disturbing part is, I'll be dead honest with you, is about how they're mocking the Second Amendment, how they're mocking guns," he told Fox and Friends in July. "You can't mock our Second Amendment."
Sweidan’s ire was not confined to Cohen: he also unloaded on the politicians and activists who fell for Cohen's act and agreed to appear on camera advocating for kindergarteners to be given firearms.
"You’ve got some gun advocate holding a bunny on a gun," Sweidan said. "If you’re a gun advocate, what the f—k are you doing holding a gun with a bunny on it? Really?"
In the end, Sweidan said he is willing to share the real story of gun owners with anybody who isn’t trying to mock them.
"He was fake, the producers were fake, the show was fake, and Showtime is fake to be honest with you," he told Fox 11. "They want a real story, come talk to us. We'll give you a real story."
