Taunting, Insulting, Choking

Jan

I was one of several men who worked with Mike Rinder in a Church public affairs office, over a period of about five years. Mike would often snap. In staff conferences, he would taunt people pretty routinely. He was always “having fun” ridiculing people. Not with the purpose of making people laugh, as in having some comic relief, but with the purpose of making them feel bad about themselves. That was something he did consistently.

He was very much an alienated person because he was at odds with his own boss and at odds with those junior to him. So he didn’t really have any person that he was a friend to. He was just unpleasant to be around as he was constantly asserting his authority, putting everybody else down and making sure they knew that he was “boss.”

And then, at times, when he was really upset, he got violent.

I have a specific incident to relate which illustrates how Mike Rinder would lose his temper, way out of proportion to what the circumstances called for. This incident was at a meeting and Mike lost his temper, yelling at me like a complete madman. He leaped up out of his chair, slammed me against the wall and did a two-handed stranglehold around my throat while he kept yelling.

I’ve been in the military and also am pretty strong, so I managed to get out of Mike’s hold pretty quick. But I had been taken by surprise. I fended him off and prevented him from grabbing hold of me again.

This incident was the only experience of its kind I have ever had.

And I must say, Mike Rinder is the worst person I ever knew or worked with. I was happy to see him leave.