People are absolutely baffled about how an Ontario store clerk who fought off a would-be robber with his own baseball bat is facing charges of aggravated assault, but local police are standing firm behind their decision.

The unnamed cashier's story went viral after the Peterborough Police Service (PPS) shared the incident in a press release on Tuesday that explained how a man attempted to rob a local convenience store with bat in hand around 2:30 a.m. on January 5.

After the perpetrator demanded money, "a struggle ensued" that resulted in the employee being hit with the weapon, which he managed to eventually wrestle out of the other man's hands.

"The suspect then fled the store," the force wrote. "The clerk followed the suspect out of the store and struck him several times with the baseball bat on the sidewalk."

While they issued an arrest warrant for the 37-year-old behind the failed crime — who is now being treated in a Toronto hospital — officers also charged the 22-year-old worker with aggravated assault, which residents appear to be quite shocked about.

THE CLERK WHO WAS ATTACKED GOT CHARGED!?!?!?!

— Rob (@CDN_24) January 10, 2024

Amid countless calls to free the staffer, who many feel was definitely the victim in the situation, people are criticizing the authorities and Canadian laws in general.

"This country is a joke. Essentially you can't defend yourself or your business and you need to take a beating," one person said.

"What a wild and pathetic legal system," another added.

And still another: "That's why people be robbing shit. This government is backwards."

In response to all of the backlash, the chief of the PPS took to social media to justify his officers' decision in a lengthy, clearly agitated rant.

"I would not normally release a message of this kind, but the commentary that has taken place following our media release today... is unfair to the men and women of my Organization - they are doing great work in our community," Chief Stu Betts wrote on X late Tuesday night.

"Yes, this case is unusual, but in a world where security cameras are everywhere, do you really think we would not have seized & reviewed the footage as part of the investigation and prior to laying charges?"

He added that he has every confidence in his staff, and that this case is not, as some believe, about politics, race, or "the perception that criminals go free while victims of crime are penalized," but is about the law.

"I encourage you to stop and think about things before determining what you think has happened, or that an injustice has taken place, because I’m quite confident that not one person who has made a comment about this case has seen the video or has access to the actual facts," he concluded.

Unfortunately for Betts, his attempt to stop all of the chatter about how police handled the incident only worsened it — one person retorted that the force is "an embarrassment" and requested Betts' resignation, while others called him and the Canadian justice system "a joke."

As one person wrote, "When the perpetrators have more rights than the victims we’ve lost this country. I see this as a case of FAFO. Drop the charges."

But despite numerous demands for the force to do just that, it doesn't seem that Betts is going to yield to the court of public opinion.

The employee appeared in court on January 6 after being held in custody, while the suspect, who suffered head injuries, is being charged with robbery, assault with a weapon and possession of weapon.