Sometimes there’s an action taken that’s so out of the blue, so incomprehensible, that even seeing the video doesn’t do it justice.
That’s probably why this story about an altercation on a Las Vegas bus has hit such a nerve. Even though I’ve watched the video multiple times, I still can’t quite compute how something like this could even happen.
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Here’s a recap if you’ve been lucky enough to miss the story until now.
On March 21, 2019, passengers on a Las Vegas bus were just trying to get where they were going.
According to witness statements, a young mother riding with her son was yelling profanities and arguing with other passengers.
During the ride, an elderly gentleman is seen on the security footage.
When they arrive at his stop, he struggles a moment to free his rolling cart and pauses to say something to the yelling woman on his way to the exit.
Witnesses say that he was telling her to be nicer to the other passengers.
Instead of taking his advice, the woman shoves him out the bus door.
In the video, you can see how strong the push was. He lands on the sidewalk quite a ways from the bus, unmoving.
Las Vegas Police have since released the full security footage of the event.
While other passengers looked on in shock, the woman calmly returns to her seat.
The man was later identified as 74-year-old Serge Fournier.
Though police were called to the scene of his fall, he initially refused medical aid, but went to the hospital later that night when it was clear that his injuries were serious.
A month later, still in the hospital, Fournier died.
The Clark County Coroner-Medical Examiner confirmed his death was due to blunt force injuries to his torso.
Comments of support and sadness over Fournier’s death have begun to roll in.
It’s true that terrible things happen every day, but acts of meaningless cruelty are particularly difficult to swallow.
Others placed blame on the other passengers.
“What is our world coming to,” one twitter user writes, “Not only was this poor man attacked but it doesn’t look like one person rushed up to help him.”
This person’s observations would be correct.
From what we can tell in the video clip, no one rushed up to help.
Some would say that the people who passively observe crimes are just as bad as those who perpetrate them.
It was ruled a homicide.
The police renewed their search for the woman who pushed him.
On May 6, 2019, 25-year-old Cadesha Bishop was arrested for murder of an elderly-vulnerable person.
Some have wondered if the charge should be manslaughter, not murder.
But manslaughter requires a lack of “intent to seriously harm or kill, or extreme, reckless disregard for life.”
When you watch the video, it’s clear that harm was intended.
If she hadn’t intended to hurt the man, she wouldn’t have calmly and silently walked back to her seat.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
Bishop was provided a public defender and given a bail of $100,000.
However, sources are now reporting that she posted bond and been released from jail.
The reports do indicate that she’s being kept on “high-level” electronic monitoring.
It’s unclear whether or not that means she’s free to be out in public. I also hope that someone is checking in on the welfare of her son, at least to be safe.
Her hearing is scheduled for May 23.
