Video of a Denton landlord accused of threatening a tenant with a gun went viral online. Now, both men in the video are speaking out.
“I look psychotic, clearly, which was the idea,” said Phillip Young.
Young, 68, is the landlord seen holding a handgun in the video during a confrontation with his tenant, a UNT student who’d been renting a room at Young’s home for a couple of weeks.
“It starts out that I'm just showing him the gun saying I will defend myself but instead of de-escalating the situation, he just eggs me on,” said Young.
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The dispute began hours earlier in the kitchen when the tenant wanted to cook eggs for breakfast but hadn't paid to use common areas, like the kitchen.
“He stood there just defiantly and said, ‘I am going to use the kitchen and I'm not going to pay for it,’” said Young.
Young says things escalated and after the tenant threatened him, and Young called the police.
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“I called them to get him out of the house because, by that point, I felt uncomfortable with him,” explained Young.
Denton police say officers determined no crime had occurred and left. They returned about four hours later when the tenant reported Young was threatening him with a gun, something Young disputed.
“Not at any point did I threaten him and you can see that on the viral video,” said Young
By phone, the tenant, who asked to not be identified, said he was fearful and is relieved Young was arrested Wednesday, one day after police say Young admitted in an email to detectives that he thought about shooting the tenant.
Young insisted it was a fleeting thought.
“I was just thinking what can I do as a deterrent to make him know that he better not attack me,” said Young.
The tenant also said he was the subject of racially motivated threats. In one video, Young can be heard saying, “I think I'm gonna invite some white supremacists into my home because you need to get roughed up some.”
Young says he immediately dismissed that idea and claims what's seen in the videos is all an act to make the tenant uncomfortable, so he'd leave.
While Young wasn't apologetic, he says he has a regret.
“I wish I had just taken time to pray maybe for a better solution rather than showing him the gun,” said Young.
Young is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The tenant has moved out of the home.
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