Michael Jackson Text Message Sparks Bus Knife Fight
Sometimes it's best to keep your feelings about the King of Pop to yourself
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 3:00 PM CDT, Fri, Jun 26, 2009
People are really taking this Michael Jackson death hard.
A man on a Broward County, Fl. bus was attacked Thursday by a knife-wielding fellow passenger after reading a text message about Jackson aloud during the ride.
James Kiernan, 60, told authorities he announced the news of Jackson’s death after receiving the text, to which the bus driver responded, “He should have been in jail a long time ago.”
Uh oh! Those are fighting words for sure.
Kiernan quickly defended the King of Pop and said “the world just lost a great musical talent,” according to police. But that comment sparked outrage, not from the bus driver, but from 54-year-old Henry Wideman, who was sitting in the seat in front of Kiernan.
In classic Jackson fashion, Kiernan told Wideman to beat it, but Wideman was far from done.
Wideman told Kierman to “shut the ---- up,” and the men got into a brief shouting match. Then Wideman pulled out a 6-inch long blade and chased Kiernan around the bus, kind of like Jackson in the "Bad" video.
Wideman finally jumped off after the bus driver called police.
Broward County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Wideman a few moments later and charged him with assault with a deadly weapon.
We guess you could call Wideman a not-so smooth criminal.
First Published: Jun 26, 2009 2:35 PM CDT on NBC Miami
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