Media Scrum Getting Testy at Camp Heene
A KDVR Denver photographer got chased by a furious neighbor of the balloon-launching Heene clan in Fort Collins, before the irate Area Man began pummeling another man who came to the photographer’s defense. And it’s all caught on YouTube, thanks to the AP!
TVSpy identifies the camera man as Byron Stewart, who got the fired up area man even more fired up by filming the man as he attempted to drive through the phalanx of reporters outside the Balloon Boy’s home. The driver had just finished lambasting the media for blocking the rode and endangering his well-being, singling out KDVR reporter Jon Bowman as he did so.
As the unidentified irate guy menaces Stewart, some other hale fellow jumps on the irate guy’s back. Irate Guy ends up extricating himself from the reverse half-nelson, which is no small accomplishment. While Richard Heene’s reality TV ambitions aren’t quite working out, maybe his neighbor can take a shot at an MMA career.
Objective commented:
It is clear to me the guy with the camera was scared of the bald crazy guy that was in his face. He was backing up to get away and baldy was on him like stink. The guy in yellow made a bad decision, but I think he felt the smaller reporter was being attacked. The reporters may be scum but Baldy was out of control and I would have considered him dangerous.
Andrew Donovan Iida commented:
Mr. Malone, this is an extremely biased article that does not accurately report the events of the incident. It needs to be retracted and you need to issue an apology to the bald man and those who read this article.
The media covering the Heene story were very irresponsible in their illegal blocking of the street. The bald man was right to call the police, who should have been there earlier to do something about the reporters who were blocking traffic.
The bald man was not "chasing" the reporter. Chasing is defined as "pursue with the intent to catch or capture". As we saw in the video, the bald man had no such intent. After coming within feet of the reporter, he did not so much as raise his arms in an attempt to touch him. The bald man could not, in the strictest of courts, be convicted of assault. A more accurate word to describe the action would be "followed".
The yellow-shirted man did not merely try to defend the reporter. He clearly did commit battery, and possibly aggravated battery, and could be convicted of a felony. He should be arrested and tried for his actions. When the bald man did get partially free of the hold, and the yellow man did not have the dominant position, he still did not let go. The bald man acted purely in self-defense with several punches to the head which were fewer than necessary to escape from his attacker. The fact that he showed such restraint is admirable; there are many people in the world who would have done much worse if they were in his position.
The actions of the reporters on the scene of the incident and this article reveal a sad truth about the media today: that they are willing to cover for their own at the expense of the accuracy and truth of the story. Mr. Malone, you are a transparently corrupt and laughable mockery of a reporter and a symbol of the degradation of modern media.
Feel free to contact me with a response.
tazzef@gmail.com
Chris commented:
Sir, you are an idiot. Stand behind your cameras and pens, while the ignorant masses read your garbage.
wow commented:
Based on this story I wonder if you really can believe a word your read in the media. This story was written with the facts represented poorly at best. The video tells all - Michael Malone must have been the guy wearing the yellow shirted that day.
Chris commented:
Media closing rank here?? Realising they are in the wrong so write a story to make the neighbour seem like the bad guy...watch the YouTube video - some idiot jumps of the neighbour's back and only gets half of what he deserves because the neighbour doesn't really connect properly with any of the punches he throws.
Tom commented:
The media guy attacked the neighbor. This story seems to make it seem like it's the other way around. The incident and this story about it are perfect examples of the decline of American media.
Neighborhood Guy Rocks commented:
Yellow-shirted coward should have gotten some more fists to his face. The neighbor just wanted to get through the news media. Why is that so hard to understand? Stay off the road or get your face smashed in!
Media are scum commented:
The fact that you don't see how the yellow shirted guy is a coward, and how the neighbor did not even lay a hand on the other guy. Again the media are scum. Especially the poparazzi. Hey why don't you check out the comments on youtube. See how many people are actually defending the photo guy. Yep you are in denial if you think the public is for this kind of journalistic behavior.