Rodrigo Gomez, a BJJ instructor of Ohana Jiu-Jitsu (Triton affiliate) is due in court next week after assaulting a young airman and beating up two others at Misawa Air Base, Japan.
Gomez was teaching BJJ for free to airmen at Misawa Air Base. He is the husband of a Misawa-based officer. The exact charge is voluntary manslaughter and assault.
According to court documents, Gomez attempt to kill one the airmen “by trying to snap his neck, punch him in the throat and stomp on his head repeatedly,”
The incident happened on new year’s eve 2016 at Café Mokuteki, near Misawa airbase. Security footage shows that Gomez stumbled on a table where a few airmen were sitting, and an argument ensued. Gomez hit one of the airmen in the back of the head. Gomez then assaulted two other airmen by hitting one in the head and the other in the face.
Gomez’s 20-year-old son put the airman in a leg lock while his dad attempted to snap the man’s neck by twisting his head violently up and to the side.
According to military.com, this is what happened:
“[One airman] had his hands down in a defensive posture while he told Gomez words to the effect of ‘calm down.’ Within seconds, again without warning, Gomez punched [that airman] in the face, knocking him back into a table, and onto the ground,” the overview states.
“[The alleged victim] was left dazed, incoherent and unable to stand on his own,” the overview states.
Security forces arrived and attempted to control the situation but Gomez and his son resisted commands and hit the victims several more times, the overview states.
“Eventually, as Security Forces were leading Gomez out of the restaurant to interview him, Gomez hit another one of the airmen … in the face,” the overview states.
Government lawyers argued that Gomez should be detained because of the seriousness of the offense and his experience living and traveling overseas.
Gomez has been ordered to appear in court in Little Rock on March 26.
Gomez with his instructor, Piet Wilhelm:
Rodrigo Gomez teaching BJJ at Misawa airbase back in 2016.
