Why Is Philly's Beloved Mascot Part of a Denver Landlord Trial?

A trial in Denver District Court included a special guest from miles away: Gritty, the infamous and delightful Philadelphia Flyers mascot in the NHL.

An eight-day trial is underway to determine whether tenants at Mint Urban Infinity apartments in Denver deserve compensation after alleged illegal and neglectful actions by their landlord. But before the proceedings could begin for the fourth day of the trial in the class action suit, the two sides had to litigate whether a Reddit post made by one of the class representatives could be admitted into evidence.

And part of that post was inspired by Gritty.

The Reddit post in question came from Brandon Smith, a former Mint Urban resident and one of the plaintiffs in the trial, who posted in r/Denver in 2024 after the lawsuit received class certification.

“We did it. We finally f*cking did it,” Smith wrote. “A Colorado judge just approved my lawsuit as a class action against these evil b*stards. They took everything from its tenants. We dealt with black mold, cockroaches, non-functioning elevators, deleted maintenance requests, homeless sleeping in our buildings, fire hazards, false advertising, bullying, lies, illegal evictions, gaslighting, and so much more.”

Mint Urban Infinity is a 561-unit complex comprising several buildings at 1261 South Bellaire Street, where tenants have long claimed that conditions don’t live up to the billing on the complex’s website. The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment has issued several citations for the property in the last five years.

In 2021, tenants filed a lawsuit against the property manager at the time, Cardinal Group Management, and the owners of the complex. The class representatives are Smith and three others, but there are thousands of class members as anyone who lived at Mint Urban from September 2018 to June 30, 2022, are included in the lawsuit.

Smith’s 2024 Reddit post went on to describe the work required for the lawsuit to reach class certification, saying he was proud of the fight thus far and the community he had built while working toward class certification.

“I feel reinvigorated to tackle the injustices and class wars of this country,” Smith wrote. “We can make a difference. We can stand up against the millionaires and billionaires. WE CAN GET WHAT WE DESERVE. In the wise words of the Philadelphia Flyers' mascot Gritty: Eat the rich.”

Despite being a mascot for the giant capitalist machine that is professional sports, Gritty has been hailed as a working class, leftist hero since the orange monster debuted in 2018. Memes portraying Gritty as a woke, anti-billionare entity are abundant. (So abundant we’re actually not sure how DOGE hasn’t tried to cut funding for Gritty yet).

Lawyers for Glendale Properties wanted to admit the post into evidence on March 6 as a means of questioning elements of Smith’s testimony related to his motivation for the lawsuit, but the plaintiffs’ legal team argued elements of Smith’s post could prejudice the jury against him if they didn’t approve of the swear words or certain comments about the court and judge.

“Yeah, the jury may not like that he's calling my clients evil bastards,” Kevin Gregory, lawyer for Glendale Properties, which owns Mint Urban, argued. “To be sure, my client doesn't like being called an evil bastard. But it goes to the altruistic motivation that was discussed yesterday from the stand in response to the last question about ‘justice for my neighbors.’”

Gregory argued that Smith’s “eat the rich” statement indicated he wanted ‘vindication’ and ‘revenge’ rather than justice.

Anyone familiar Gritty knows that vindication and justice go hand in hand for the mascot, who has always thrown hands (and cheesesteaks) when needed to stand up for his team and Philly sports fans. Who's to say eating the rich can’t be altruistic?

Regardless, the tenants’ lawyers argued that the language in the post would distract from the legal questions at stake.

“This case should be decided on the merits, on actual factual evidence, not on disparaging online comments,” said one of the tenants’ attorneys, Benjamin DeGolia.

In the end, Judge Jon Jay Olafson struck certain elements of the post and subsequent comments that he determined would create undue prejudice with the jury (mainly related to Smith’s words about his legal team).

Gritty’s portion, however, was admitted into evidence.

When Gregory cross-examined Smith, the questions were mainly about conditions at the complex, establishing a timeline of events and interactions with people, and the specifics of the lease Smith signed to live at Mint Urban.

But toward the end of Gregory’s questioning, he asked Smith about the post. Gregory began by saying he wasn’t familiar with Reddit before this case and only has 200 Facebook friends. He then asked Smith if Smith had lots of followers on Reddit, to which Smith estimated he had less than 150. (He actually has just 22).

Gregory also asked if Smith “goes viral” on Reddit often. Smith said he wasn’t sure what “going viral” meant.

The post in question has 659 upvotes and 83 comments. Smith said he did remember making the post, including writing about feeling reinvigorated to tackle class wars and mentioning Gritty’s instruction to eat the rich. Smith also agreed that he did not bring those items up when his lawyer asked him his purpose in bringing the lawsuit.

The trial will continue until March 12, with the possibility of more Gritty mentions to come. If the former Mint Urban residents' case is successful, the seven-person jury will determine the specific amount in damages owed.