Bernie Friedman: Broward’s Trayvon Martin?
Don’t read this blog unless you have first seen Broward’s answer to the Ali/Forman “Rumble in the Jungle”.
You can go forward only if you have watched this 45 seconds of theatrics and hysterics on Channel 10’s website here.
In this corner it’s Über Lobbyist Bernie Friedman who is clearly attempting to block the media from talking to his client.
In the opposite corner it’s reporter Bob “I Ain’t Goin’ Back to New Times” Norman. Norman is doing his best version of a Mike Wallace microphone ambush of Friedman’s trash hauler client Phil Medico.
“You want to kill me and push me down the escalator” cried Friedman, sounding like he is trying to hold back the tears.
Lobbyist Bernie Friedman (left) pitching a hissy fit
The best part is when he whines that he has been battered and is going to file a police report.
No, I take that back. The best part was when he cried that if he had been killed he would have left his 22 year old daughter fatherless.
It was possibly the most melodramatic, overacted, hissy fit imitation of Scarlett O’Hara I have ever seen: “As God is my witness, I’ll never be thrown down another Broward County Government Center escalator again.”
Interestingly, this little video strip is a clear illustration of how our “Stand Your Ground” law could make all the difference in a self defense case.
Friedman is clearly preventing Norman from freely using a public escalator.
[A fight is “a brewin”. Thar’s gonna be a fussin an a fuedin’.]
Prior to the “Stand Your Ground” law Norman might not have been allowed to shove Friedman out of the way. The old law might have required him to “safely retreat”. The video makes clear Norman could have done that.
But since 2005 Norman had a perfect right to use all reasonable force to get poor Bernie out of the way of a place Norman was legally entitled to go. As long as you are legally in the place, you no longer “have a duty to retreat”.
Had Bernie taken a header and ended up like Trayvon only one thing would have been certain. Dave Bogenschutz would have gotten another celebrity client.
April 22nd, 2012 at 10:28 am
if it was a cartoon it would have been funny if friedman was wiley coyote and when he backed up as he was going out the door hr got obliterated by one of the cars going by. (only if it was a cartoon).
April 22nd, 2012 at 11:15 am
I watched the unedited version of this. Bernie Friedman should be ashamed of himself. Not only were his antics childish, but he made a complete fool out of himself.
April 22nd, 2012 at 2:52 pm
I also watched the unedited version. Not only should Friedman be commended for his Burlesque performance, but Norman should get be commending for showing immense restraint for not laughing in the idiot’s face.
April 22nd, 2012 at 2:54 pm
make that
“Norman should be commended for showing immense restraint for not laughing in the idiot’s face.”
April 22nd, 2012 at 5:37 pm
roadrunner, that’s so funny! I’ll carry that in my mind’s eye when I need a good laugh.
Yes,agree with Privacy 101. How much did they pay Bernie for his services? Does the contract includes the ability to go into diversional hysterics when confronted by truthseekers?
April 22nd, 2012 at 5:39 pm
He has plagued Hollywood and now he is doing the same for the entire county. We are on to you, Bernie “Scumbag” Friedman. Show that to you daughter, if you really have one!
April 22nd, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Christine, thanks for the flattery by imitation in the form of a little “borrowing” i.e., using some of my words and my entire thought that I posted on Bob’s blog re: laughing at Bernie.
I posted it on Friday. “Bob, you exercised commendable restraint by not laughing in his face while he was doing his shtick.”
April 22nd, 2012 at 8:14 pm
Charlotte,
I think most of South Florida thought the same thing. I did not intentionally “steal” your words. My apologies.
April 22nd, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Were Ken Keechl and Bernie seperated at birth or do they just use the same stylist?
April 23rd, 2012 at 7:04 am
Everybody knows that Bernie is a girliman. He needs a shot of testosterone.
April 23rd, 2012 at 8:56 am
Nobody has the right to pass someone else on an escalator. Proper escalator etiquette and safety is to wait your turn because running past someone on an escalator is very unsafe, especially with a cameraman in tow.
In fact because of the camera equipment Norman and crew should have taken the elevator and not used the escalator at all. It is unsafe to carry a camera on your shoulder and film on a moving escalator. That cameraman could easily have fallen hurting others. Everything Bob Norman and his crew did on that video exposes others to serious risk of harm.
For sure Norman was the clear aggressor and he has an established pattern of trespass in order to gain a story. The extra two seconds waiting were not going to keep Norman from conducting his interview. It was his shift in focus that caused that.
He gave up an interview with his intended news maker in order to spend time filming Bernie Friedman. I call that a failure in reporting.
April 23rd, 2012 at 9:17 am
Channel 10 should be ashamed of itself.
Norman most likely provoked Friedman and I don’t care what the tape shows. There is no such thing as an unedited tape. How about before the camera was turned on.
Fields is right. Norman is lucky someone doesn’t shoot him and claim that he was threatening them.
April 23rd, 2012 at 9:22 am
I’m sure that Bernie Friedman is pond scum like most of the lobbyists. That doesn’t mean he gives up his rights to go into a public building and not be harassed.
April 23rd, 2012 at 9:30 am
Dear Plain,
Although I let my subscription to Escalator Etiquette Weekly lapse, I recall that staying to the right and allowing those who choose to continue to walk while on the escalator go around you on the left is what Miss Manners calls for.
April 23rd, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Those escalators at the County are pretty narrow Sam.
April 23rd, 2012 at 1:44 pm
This just gives me one more reason to make sure I have enough money to retire and move the F away from most of Fla. I can’t see tax payers getting the best of this.
April 23rd, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Escalator companies publish that their products are not the right height or type for normal walking and are not designed to be used as stairs. They are designed for people standing in place waiting for the machine to do the job. People creeping past one another on a narrow escalator put themselves and others at risk. It is unsafe and should not be done.
April 23rd, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Fields is correct when a sign is posted by the escalator owner asking riders to stand to the right and allow others to pass them on the left. In some places passing is encouraged and prohibited elsewhere. Where there is no posting the prohibition should apply.
That’s because escalator owners invite greater risk of injury by encouraging riders to pass other riders while an escalator is moving.
The standard safety rule promoted by elevator companies is always good manners to follow. Stay in line when entering, riding or exiting a moving escalator.
April 23rd, 2012 at 5:20 pm
That wasn’t Keechl? Lord, if you aren’t a nasty greedy crook in this town, you’re a whiny greedy girly-boy lobbyist. This is alleged but I hear that Phil Medico said if he gets his hands on Friedman, he’s gonna toss him down TWO escalator flights and maybe even break this thumbs.
April 23rd, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Are you people freaking nuts. Forget about proper escalator etiquette, didn’t you even watch the video. It is obvious that Bernie was trying his best to block Bob Norman so his client could escape. It reminded me of that video of Beverly Gallagher escaping down the stairs of the parking garage while some guy tried to block a reporter. In fact if I remember correctly that guy even complained he got injured too. Probably where Bernie the Baby got the idea.
April 23rd, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Sam,
I never knew you went to charm school or read Miss Manners. What a surprise!
April 28th, 2012 at 1:17 am
Buddy, why would you add that “I ain’t going back to the New Times” about Bob Norman? Bob did a great job at the New Times which was the one clear voice is all this media drivel in South Florida,and still is way more relevant than your blog. Please refrain from making smart ass comments about other professionals and where they work. You’re the weakest blog and information in town so it’s silly to see you talk down to them in a way only you could lower yourself to.
FROM BUDDY:
That was not me. It was Sam Fields.