Newcastle fan Barry Rogerson cocks his fist as Bud the police horse approaches.
A horse-punching, street-rioting soccer hooligan is playing the victim card despite overwhelming viral video evidence to the contrary.
Footage of the pudgy pugilist — identified as 45-year-old Barry Rogerson — taking a swing at the horse during riots in Newcastle, England, over the weekend paints a far different picture than what the unemployed factory worker is trying to portray.
"We just came out of the Terrace Bar in St James' Park and I was right in the middle of," the riot, Rogerson told The Daily Mail of the row that broke out following Newcastle's 3-0 loss to Sunderland.
Rogerson's horse attack is captured on film and quickly goes viral.
Rather than flee the chaotic scene, however, Rogerson, who downed five pints at the pub, proceeded to hide his face with a scarf (to protect a broken filling in a tooth, he explained) and go mano-a-stallion with the horse. Needless to say, Rogerson claims it was all in self-defense.
"This one particular horse was spooked by a firecracker and charged at me. That's when I panicked and threw a punch at the horse. I tried to get him away from me with my left hand and then punched him with my right. It was sheer panic."
"It was an instant reaction. I did not actually go out to attack a horse," Rogerson offered as an explanation.
Police quickly put an end to Rogerson's rioting escapades.
The horse, named Bud, wasn't injured and is now "safe in his stable and appears fine", a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police Horses told the Herald Sun.
The attacker had a far worse time of it. After stunning the the animal with a sucker punch, Rogerson was tackled from behind by police and immediately arrested. He is currently out on bail.
To make matters worse, Rogerson has become public enemy No. 1 among England’s animal rights community — a label he claims is undeserved.
Rogerson covers his face to protect a broken tooth filling from the cold, he later claims.
"I'm an animal lover. I've got three dogs, a fishpond out the back and I feed foxes across the road," he said.
Rogerson also tried to drum up sympathy by bringing up his struggle with sarcoidosis, a chronic disease for which he receives over $8,000 dollars a year in disability pay.
"I can't even walk up the stairs. Doing anything physical is hard."
Anything except punching a horse.
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