Just Me: Internet Meme - Epic Beard Man

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Internet Meme - Epic Beard Man

I've been following this since it happened a couple or so days ago. And I would regret not having this on my blog one day. So here it is, and the follow up videos

The original video that became an internet sensation

The lesser known video directly after the incident. He's still pissed off

The videographer Iyanna Washington being interviewed on local TV

Iyanna's somber public apology after a HUGE public backlash on the internet, with even 4chan taking up the story and tracing her down

Interview with Tom Bruso aka Tom Slick today (20 Feb)

More on Tom:

Last year, Bruso was involved in another incident, also captured on video and widely circulated on YouTube and other Web sites.
At an Aug. 3, 2009, A's ballgame, Oakland police officers used a stun gun on Bruso because he refused repeated requests to leave the ballpark. He hadn't been drinking but had brought alcohol into the stadium, police spokesman Jeff Thomason said at the time. When Bruso refused to leave, Coliseum security asked Oakland police officers working the game to eject him. Three officers verbally tried several times to get Bruso to leave, but he refused.

The situation quickly escalated after Bruso made a rude gesture at one of the two officers. They then placed a handcuff on Bruso's left wrist. A third officer arrived with a Taser, stunning the man in the left shoulder blade while another officer was placing the other cuff on Bruso's right wrist. The third officer applied the Taser on Bruso again, this time near the middle of his back, which caused Bruso to fall forward into an aisle. He was charged with resisting arrest and taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Tom has always been a bit of an oddball. Here he is years ago as seen by Caliber photographer Troy Holden:

"Back in 1996, I was working at the intersection of 2nd & Market. Each and every day the man pictured above would walk by my shop, wave a loaf of sourdough in my face, and scream obscenities about the San Francisco 49′ers."

LOL

Local Forum poster on the thug that attacked Tom:

Cornrows there is known to me (unless he has a twin or something). Like so many of the bus-riding thugs mentioned above, this SOB has a habit of parking himself near a likely victim outside his race and [bleep]-talking nonstop until he can either draw them into a fight or intimidate them into leaving. He did it to my guy; he also did it to me once, which since I'm disabled left me fighting a massive anxiety attack (to his obvious deep satisfaction). Men (and women) like this make riding AC Transit hell for the rest of us; they have nothing better to do but antagonize, bully, be bigots and start crap. Why? Because they're hateful and vicious, and ruining someone else's commute makes them feel powerful. Screw Cornrows. Seeing him finally get the response he deserved did my guy and I a world of good.