Punch Drunk ex-MMA fighter and convicted criminal Garrett Gross grossly bastardizes bible message by naming his group Operation 17:2

I've never cared much for MMA. As far as I am concerned, the only time MMA fighting was ever nominally interesting was when it started because it was on the heels of the one-on-one fighting game craze of the 1990s. Boxer vs. wrestler, kickboxer vs. Kung Fu master, etc. Now it is just a magnet for MAGAts. 

Garrett Gross isn't event anyone special. He has a mediocre record at best at 11-10. Whoop-de-doo. I never would've heard of this bum because he is not really a standout in the world of entrapment "stings" except that this asshat likes to promote religion in the worst possible way. 

Gross's group is called "Operation 17:2". It is derived from Luke 17:2, the bible passage that vigilantes LOVE to misquote, namely that, "It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble." 

But here is the FULL segment in proper context, Luke 17:1-4. 

Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

This passage can also be found at Matthew 18:6--

"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." -- Matthew 18:6, KJV

This passage has been popping up around the internet among vigilante groups and alleged victim's rights groups, which they claim suggests that child abuse is worse than any other sin in God's eyes. My answer begins with the following warning:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. -- 2 Peter 1:20

If anyone actually read Matthew 18, and the context it is used, you would see the meaning behind the passage is not what victim's rights groups are proclaiming:

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Causing to Stumble

    6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.  -- NIV

 Jesus states two things. First off, in verses 3-5 Jesus compares the ideal Believer to a little child. In versus 6-9, Jesus is warning us about scandals in general. The Greek word σκανδαλίσῃ, translated as "stumble" in the NIV, is pronounced skandalisē. It is where we get the English term "scandal." Though we may immediately think of the Catholic Abuse scandal or maybe a political sex scandal, scandal is a general term for a large variety of activities. If you each your child to become a thief, it is a scandal. Jesus was warning again leading others into scandals by their actions.

What about the rest of the chapter? In Verses 15-19, we are taught the Christian method of dealing with Believers sinning in the Church. There are levels of rebuke in which multiple chances at forgiveness is possible-- one on one, then in the presence of a couple of witnesses, then to the church, and if all else fails separate yourself from the offender. The key here is forgiveness. It is a concept lost to modern America.

The last part of the chapter is the Parable of the unmerciful servant, warning us against squandering God's mercy. We have forgotten the concepts of forgiveness and mercy, though it is a very common theme in the Bible. After all, in Matthew 18:21-22 Jesus says not to forgive seven times, but seventy times seven (or seventy seven times depending on the translation). It does seem ironic how that message reminding us to forgive is in the exact same chapter as the verse abused by groups using the passage to promote agendas.

"If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." --- Luke 17:4 NIV

Scripture is highly symbolic. In Biblical times, numbers were symbolic, and the number seven means complete. What does it mean to forgive? THIS SITE can explain that far better than I can. I do know forgiveness is a process but it is also releasing yourself of the prison you make for yourself by perpetuating hatred. It is contrary to our vindictive attitude. You merely have to look at vendettas or blood feuds to see what happens when our desire for retribution for harms done goes unchecked.

Forgiveness does not mean we necessarily forget, but it does mean we let go of our need for vengeance, especially vengeance disguised as "justice."

Back to Garrett Gross-- He boasts of serving time in prison for being a dope boy. Now he makes a career out of entrapping people on the Internet to sell merch and beg for donations to "expand" his dubious "non-profit organization." Garrett Gross is still a dope boy, it is just now he is pedddling a different kind of mind-altering substance to a community of braindead idiots that lap it up. I'm not surprised that we have yet another God & Guns type among the self-professed "predator hunters", but misquoting scripture for his sick pleasure while bashing others who struggle in the faith is a whole new level of hypocrisy. 

He should change his grifter group's name to Operation 11-10 to reflect his MMA record LOL

Garrett Gross admitting he's a dope boy

I fixed Grrett's sign for him.

Garrett promoting violence

Offensive logo that bastardizes Christianity

More violent imagery and blasphemy
from the punch drunk ex-MMA fighter/ Dope Boy

I think this is hilarious given that I took that same Sheriff to task over abusing registry laws
to chace Registered Persons out of the county and harassed them. 

Here is a decent, fairly (but not fully) nuanced look at one of the recent stings from what should be called Operation 11-10:

Surprise! Tyler Oliviera, the Youtube douche who harassed Registered Persons at Miracle Village, is a far right extremist pushing racist and anti-Semitic propaganda

A couple of years ago, this loser/YouTube "influencer" decided to go to Miracle Village and harass residents for clicks and likes, and got a little air time on FAUX News. 

When those POS isn't wasting 100k rolls of TP to make silly videos, Tyler Oliviera was also being one of the main dipshits pushing false claims of immigrants eating cats and dogs during the 2024 election. So what a shock, he's pushing false claims of widespread Somali daycare fraud and that there is a "Jewish Invasion" on New Jersey. Apparently, the pro-Israel lobby doesn't like that last so he finally pissed off the wrong people. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/youtuber-found-somali-fraud-backs-165757205.html

Republicans’ Favorite YouTuber Backs Probe Into “Jewish Invasion”

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling

Thu, February 26, 2026 at 10:57 AM CST

Just one day after Republicans invited Nick Shirley to join them at the State of the Union address, the right-wing YouTuber endorsed a copycat of his work warning against a “Jewish invasion.”

“EXPOSE IT ALL,” Shirley wrote on X, sharing a post from fellow right-wing content creator Tyler Oliveira announcing his recent 73-minute “documentary on New Jersey’s Jewish Invasion.”

Oliveira’s portfolio includes clips titled “I Deported ILLEGAL Immigrants with ICE!” and dozens of videos dehumanizing Black people. In 2024, he published and amplified unverified (and since debunked) claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were causing “constant car crashes” and were capturing and eating local pets.

But somehow, blatantly targeting the Jewish community was a step too far for Oliveira’s far-right audience.

“The replies to this tweet show the double standards and hypocrisy of half of the ‘republican influencer’ space,” Oliveira wrote, defending his work against droves of online critics. “Does welfare abuse/fraud only suck when it’s a Somali? Ask your local ‘MAGA Republican influencer’ where he draws the line.”

Oliveira was also banned from Patreon over the video, though it wasn’t the first time he released a controversial piece about Jewish communities. In January, the 26-year-old posted a video to YouTube titled “Inside the New York Town Invaded by Welfare-Addicted Jews …”

But in a testament to the genre’s political affiliations, known white supremacist Nick Fuentes defended Oliveira’s latest doc, claiming that “when it comes to African Somali Muslims, everything is tolerated.… When another guy does the exact same thing to the Jews, ‘This is another holocaust.’”

Shirley clearly feels similarly.

Shirley gained national notoriety last year after he published a video that inspired the conservative caucus to politically scapegoat Somali immigrants. Vice President JD Vance circulated the video, positing that Shirley had “done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 @pulitzercenter prizes.”

In his widely circulated “investigation,” Shirley door-knocked a slew of Somali-run day care centers in Minnesota, arguing that sites that did not respond or allow him—an unannounced, unknown white man—entrance into a center filled with children had fraudulently accepted federal funding.

It would later emerge that elements of Shirley’s report were incorrect or inadequately reported: At least two of the centers featured in his video had been closed for several years, according to Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families. The government had already investigated federal fraud in Minnesota—during the Biden administration, more than 90 Minnesotans were charged, with at least 60 cases resulting in convictions.

Nonetheless, the report resulted in the suspension of $185 million intended for Minnesota from the Department of Health and Human Services.

It also stirred a national services controversy, in which predominantly blue states were accused of abusing federal funds for programs focused on childcare and local poverty. In truth, states of all stripes across the nation have participated in benefits abuse, but not everyone suffered the federal cuts. Instead, Donald Trump axed $10 billion from five Democratic states, including Minnesota.