LUNENBURG — Lunenburg police say 66-year-old David McPartlan of Ayer was arrested after a Memorial Day boating incident in which he allegedly threw rocks and shouted racial slurs at a Black man and his young daughter while they were fishing on Lake Shirley.
McPartlan faces two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault to intimidate. According to the police report, McPartlan later told investigators that “I slipped a word out that maybe I shouldn’t have, but I was pissed,” though he refused to specify the slur.
The victim, identified as Sheron K. Brown, told NBC Boston he had taken his 10-year-old daughter to Shady Point Beach on Memorial Day to fish when McPartlan approached them from a nearby dock.
“His first words were, ‘Don’t fish here next to my dock, go somewhere else. Why are you here?’” Brown said in an interview with NBC Boston.
In a video Brown posted to his Facebook profile, a shirtless McPartlan shouts, “Oh yeah, I’m throwing rocks at you, [N-word].” After recording part of the incident with his cell phone, Brown called 911.
“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,” Brown told NBC Boston. “There was at least 65 feet between us, which is a considerable distance.”
Brown opened his social media post with, “Ignorance is not bliss. I firmly believe it’s a choice,” then explained that he originally planned to take his daughter to Whalom Pond but chose Lake Shirley when it proved too crowded. Once at Lake Shirley, Brown decided to fish in a different area that day “just to stay out of the way of other boaters enjoying the lake” when the incident occurred.
“Well, our peaceful afternoon did not quite go as planned,” Brown said on Facebook. “I was pointing at some bluegill beds for my daughter to cast at and trying to enjoy this beautiful afternoon on the water when one of the lake residents started to harass me and throw rocks at me! I couldn’t make this up.”
McPartlan is scheduled to appear in Fitchburg District Court for his arraignment on June 16.
Seriously who is that guy, apparently Trump has given all the racists the go ahead. Its not going to work and history will remember these smucks.
Actually David is a card carrying leftist who thinks the world revolves around his his progressive mindset.. Good thing Sherrod didn’t have a Maga hat on , it would have ended worse.
Yeah, right, “Anonymous”. No leftist would ever use that word.