Basketball Players Beat Up Ref At Georgia Church, Police Investigating

Police in Georgia are now investigating a violent attack on a basketball referee after a game inside a church gymnasium where players gang up on the ref and beat him while others just watch the attack.

In a video from inside Stronghold Christian Church in Lithonia, GA, players are observed cornering and attacking the referee who attempts to fight off his attackers, but he's overwhelmed by the volume of punches and kicks directed at him.

The church pastor, who has released a statement, calls the incident "unfortunate" to see what happened to a ref who, according to WSB-TV 2 in Atlanta, suffered serious injuries and had to be rushed to the hospital.

“It is truly unfortunate about the turn of events that took place during the basketball game held at our facility this weekend," the unidentified pastor said in a statement. "While we cannot control people, it is our hope and prayer that those who enter our facility will conduct themselves in the best manner.”

Eyewitnesses on the scene say the incident involved AAU players, but the AAU denies it was a sanctioned AAU game and is distancing the organization from anything associated with the event or those involved in the attack.

While this type of attack is appalling and grounds for arrest, it's not the first time we've seen AAU or rec basketball refs in general attacked during a game. In 2021, a man came out of the stands at a basketball game in Indiana to confront a ref and that led to a fight that included a member of a girls' team throwing punches at the ref.

Police tell TMZ they're investigating the Georgia ref attack incident and that police did respond to the gymnasium for an assault.