i really dislike anonymous comments. i think they're really wimpy and usually just a way for someone to express something heinous without being identified.
so, to anomymous commenter # 2, on this post: you are a coward. to say something so disgusting and hide behind an "anonymous" is unacceptable.
this idiot wrote the following on my piece about the MURDER of darcy sheppard and i didn't even want to publish it. but i don't believe in censoring anything, so i'm publishing it in the hopes that it demonstrates a little bit of what i wrote about how the PR spin on this case has completely distorted the facts and made a human being's death acceptable and necessary.
the comment:
You're right, why would a person do such a thing like attack a car, or reach into it's window, much less more than once in one night... right he might be looking for a fight. Uhm you forgot to mention the part in the article where Sheppard attacked a car earlier. He was looking for a fight, he got one. I was out walking late with my girlfriend that night not far from where all this happened, and if Sheppard had not ridden Bryants car into a fire hydrant, my girlfriend and I could have been Sheppard's next victims. We didn't have a car to fight back with. Better him dead than me and my girl.
"uhm", have you ever been hit by a car, "anonymous"???? while you were riding a bike?? because it isn't fun.
you and "your girl" weren't driving around hitting cyclists and i'm sure that noone would have wasted their time trying to pick a fight with two moron yuppies walking around yorkville on a fucking date. in fact, as my brilliant friend elle pointed out, you and your girl were more likely to be hit by bryant's car when it started "going out of control" than being attacked by darcy sheppard.
michael bryant HIT darcy sheppard with his car. he drove on the WRONG SIDE of the road. he then LEFT the scene of a crime which is illegal.
this guy wasn't out looking for a fight, and don't flatter yourself that anyone would ever target you for any reason except that you're a prick.
so thanks for reading the blog, thanks for taking the time to register your opinion. but next time you want to make big claims and grandiose statements about how it's GOOD that someone is dead, don't hide behind anonymity.
update--a very smart response to "anonymous" from elle:
Anonymous, it is so great that you would put your own self interested hypothetical situation above the reality that someone did die in this incident. However, let's take a moment to think about that hypothetical situation anyways.
Apparently, Darcy Sheppard was being aggressive with people in CARS that day; therefore, I'm sure he would have posed no real harm to you and your girlfriend. However, Bryant's driving was out of control and he could have very easily hurt someone or even kill them. OH WAIT A MINUTE! THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what kind of person Darcy Sheppard was. He is dead. He is not on trial. And Michael Bryant is responsible for his death whether you (and the courts) would like to acknowledge this or not. I am a driver and I am absolutely positive that if I hit someone accidently - let alone killed them because I was driving recklessly - I would not be let off so easily. After all, I can't afford a PR firm to spin the story.
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6 comments:
I agree with one thing you said. Darcy Alan Sheppard isn't on trial. But I am inclined to believe that is only because Bryant hit the gas peddle. Had he stayed in place, Bryant and his wife would probably be the people that died.
I know it doesn't seem like it from my original comment on your blog, I am sad that anyone had to die that night, but I believe it was inevitable. This particular TTC rider, is still glad that I did not have an encounter with Mr. Sheppard that night.
It's summer, and I think in yuppy style, I will take my bike out a few times this week. I am not a hardcore cyclist, but I know the rules, and regardless of what happens, who hits me, cuts me off, honks at me, or gives me any reason to be upset, I won't intentionally ride a car window. I learned that was unsafe when I was 5...
You say "Bryant and his wife would probably be the people that died"... Wow, on what grounds to you make that assumption. It is obvious to me that Al, as a courier, knew well to try to grab the keys out of the ignition to try to keep the driver at the scene. Al's last words were: "You're not going to get away that easy". Saab keys are on the console between the seats and not on the steering column. Plus, there were absolutely no marks on Bryant in the squad car, even though the facts state that Al "hit him in the forehead" once. From the accounts of other drivers' encounters with Al, all he ever did was once or twice hold on to the car and reach in with his free hand. Hardly a scenario to say he was intent on murder. At the end of the day, all I can figure from all this, is that Michael Bryant showed us all that he has less guts than a 65 year old woman. Wow. That's a career killer if I ever saw one.
I have seen a similar comment before Anonymous #2.
"as a courier, knew well to try to grab the keys out of the ignition to try to keep the driver at the scene... Saab keys are on the console between the seats and not on the steering column."
What good does that information do him now. Are you implying that a man is dead because of training?
If only bike couriers were trained to read a license plate instead of reaching into cars and risking their lives, Bryant would be on trial right now for at least the hit and run.
Regarding the 65 year old lady... if she had been my mom or grandmother, Sheppard would not have met his fate that night with Bryant. I would have found him long before and broken his legs so he never rode again, but hey at least he would still be alive. Yeah some of us are real pricks. Remember that next time you spit at an old lady.
Anonymous #3: Obviously you've never had a close call with an agressive driver (like Bryant). There is little time to get out a pad of paper and pen when you've just come close to death. As for the old lady, she was a careless driver and had cut him off beforehand. Perhaps she should have had her driver's license taken away long ago.
Mr. Sheppard did not randomly attack drivers. He was just fed up - like many, many of us - with people who can't comprehend the death traps they're driving. How many cylinders is your motorized wheelchair btw? Is your mother proud her little boy needs 200 horsepower to carry his lunch to school?
I think we have to look at some of the sequence of events to understand why Al Sheppard probably reached for the keys at one point.
1- Bryant rams Sheppard 30 feet, onto the hood and off, backs up, and swerves around Sheppard as Al gets up.
2 - Sheppard makes the dreadful mistake of grabbing onto the mirror in a drunken attempt to keep Bryant at the scene.
3 - Within seconds Sheppard finds himself flying along at 10, 20, 30 kms/hr - with bike shoes on - witnesses said they could see sparks coming from the bottom of his shoes.
From there, there are still plenty of seconds left for Al to try to pull himself into the car and go for the keys or the stick. What other choice would you make really?
Bryant only reported getting hit by Sheppard, in the forehead, once. And witness reported at one point Al's whole upper torso was up in the car.
Sounds like an attempt to grab the keys or kick it out of gear to me.
Thank you for the excellent posts!
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