A racial slur and rocks thrown by a man on shore ended what was supposed to be an unforgettable father-daughter Memorial Day celebration trip.
Their fishing trip took place at Shady Point Beach in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. The upset father, Sherron Brown, captured a video of the man, who appeared to be white, saying, “Oh yeah, I’m throwing rocks at you, ——,” using a slur for Black people.
Brown told NBC10 Boston that he had taken his 10-year-old daughter to celebrate Memorial Day, but it was evident that the man on shore wanted them to go.
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“His first words were, ‘Don’t fish here next to my dock, go somewhere else. Why are you here?” Brown said.
Brown said the man grew louder and continued to rant and swear.
“It seemed like he was trying to establish some kind of invisible boundary where I can’t fish towards his dock, even though that was not my intention anyway. There was at least 65 feet between us, which is a considerable distance,” Brown said.
He explained that he had no choice but to phone 911 when the man threw rocks at him and his daughter and shouted the slur. Then he told the man that if he didn’t stop, he would record him.
He stated his heart breaks for his daughter after what she saw.
“Never in 1,000 years would you expect to be out doing what you love with the person you love, my daughter, and someone aggressive and yelling out things that are just awful and atrocious,” Brown expressed.
He noted that, in his fifteen years of fishing here, the current circumstances are not typical.
Meanwhile, the man, identified as 66-year-old David McPartlan, subsequently told Lunenberg police, “I slipped a word out that maybe I shouldn’t have but I was pissed,” according to a police report; however, when asked what word it was, he responded, “I’m not going to admit it.” He also allegedly claimed to have thrown pebbles around the boat.
According to the report, McPartlan was later charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and assault with the intent to intimidate.
McPartlan is scheduled to face the charges in Fitchburg District Court on June 16. According to NBC10 Boston, it was unclear whether he had an attorney who could comment on the charges.
