Thursday, April 14, 2005

Here We Go again.

The rumor now is that since Daniel Sepeda’s death at what appears to be at the hands of The Downtown Joe’s bouncers, supporters of Sepeda have done more than just vandalise the place and tag death threats. I know a few people who work at Riley’s Tavern across the street and they told me last night (over fish tacos) that Sepeda’s “friends” have been keeping round the clock surveillance of the place waiting for someone to show up so they jump ‘em. The Californian seems to support this claim in an article today stating that the attorney hired by the owners said that, “Bar personnel have been hearing rumors that people have been wandering the downtown area and asking for names of bar employees.” As a result Downtown Joe’s has announced it will be closing its doors for good. Wow – I didn’t see that coming.

The article also reports that the coroner “Saw no physical evidence that Sepeda was beaten to death, is calling it death by strangulation, and that they are awaiting toxicology to determine if there were not extenuating circumstances.

In the meantime friends and family of Sepeda are continuing to spray paint their messages on the building and have created T-shirts which bear a picture of the man and say “In Loving Memory Of Daniel Sepeda.” (On a side note - I saw a license plate frame on a car recently which said the same type of thing. Seems like a strange way to memorialize a person’s life if you ask me.)

So, Downtown Joe’s is gone and all the people who used to enjoy going downtown are all freaked out and the employee’s of the surrounding businesses are worried about their incomes and it’s all over the news about how dangerous it is to go downtown. All because some drunk guy got into a bar fight and some ‘roided-out bouncer put him in a choke hold.

Yeah, that sounds like Bakersfield. How can you NOT love this place??