Why This BBQ Brawl Contestant Is Defending His Controversial Tattoo

As a show, "BBQ Brawl" offers a lot of entertaining content for its audiences. There's intense competition, talented pitmasters working with popular names from the food industry such as Bobby Flay and Michael Symon, and more. The latest edition of the show, however, finds itself battling a controversial issue that has recently come to light.

As The Daily Beast reports, one of the participants on the show, Brendan Lamb from Texas, has a tattoo on his arm that's considered offensive by some: a circle of 13 red stars with the Roman numeral three in the middle. It's a symbol that aligns with a far right organization called The Three Percenters, which The Daily Beast describes as "a U.S.-based far-right, anti-government militia movement." This group was recently accused of being a terrorist organization by the Canadian government and was listed as a threat to national security, largely due to their involvement in the Capitol riots in January 2021 (via Reuters). 

A little background: the Three Percenters was founded back in 2008. The group claims that just 3% of American citizens retaliated against the British at the time of the American Revolution in the 18th century. While it's true that this organization is considered to be dangerous by some, Lamb doesn't see it that way. He said that he became a part of the group while preparing for an acting role when he was just 18 years old and didn't perceive the organization's goals to be dangerous in any form.

Brendan Lamb told The Daily Beast that he doesn't think the organization was doing "a bad thing" when he became a part of it as a struggling actor in Los Angeles. He commented on the induction process and said, "I had to do some training with gun experts, and those guys let me know that 3 percent of Americans fought against the British, that 3 percent of Americans stood up to fight." He added that as far as he was concerned, the Three Percenters simply wanted to raise their voices against bullies and oppressors. 

He went on to say that he think the organization is full of "protectors of anybody and everybody... I see myself as a protector, a protector of my family, a protector of my friends." Additionally, he defended himself, telling The Daily Beast that he's a patriot and is not someone who would support mindless violence. 

Interestingly, the Food Network has concealed the tattoo from view in "BBQ Brawl" (none of Lamb's other tattoos were blurred out) but hasn't stated anything publicly so far. As for Lamb, he intends to keep the tattoo but will get it modified to "camouflage" the symbol associated with the Three Percenters.