Justin Bieber fans deface Rick Rypien memorial
Justin Bieber fans deface Rick Rypien memorial
Pop star's followers scrawl messages of love over late player's tributeBy TYLER ORTON, QMI Agency
Canucks fan Andrew Nicholson looks at makeshift memorial for Rick Rypien that was covered with messages for Justin Bieber at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., Oct. 11, 2012. (CARMINE MARINELLI/QMI Agency)
VANCOUVER - Some Justin Bieber fans couldnt contain themselves Wednesday following the Canadian pop stars performance at Rogers Arena, scrawling professions of love for their idol across an unofficial memorial honouring late Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien.
A concrete pillar next to the arena, once covered solely in messages paying tribute to the scrappy forward, was dotted with over a dozen exclamations, including I (heart) Justin Bieber and J.B. Concert Oct. 10/2012 Simran Mann.
Pictures of the defaced tribute outraged Canucks fans on Twitter a! s hundreds of sports enthusiasts took aim at an account apparently belonging to Mann.
User @Nahal_13 wrote, @SIMRAN_MANN_ You better wash that stupid writing of yours before someone kicks your ass, while @kashasandhu tweeted, The Simran Mann girl who wrote "I <3 JB" on Rick Rypien's memorial wall, deserves to be punched.
The @SIMRAN_MANN_ account was closed Thursday morning.
Not all users, however, were calling for the heads of Bieber fans. User @twistedvixen tweeted, Vandalizing a memorial is wrong. So is harassing and threatening a young girl who made a mistake.
Attempts to scrub the Bieber love with nail-polish remover resulted in the liquid dripping down the concrete and damaging some of the Rypien tributes.
Canucks fan Andrew Nicholson, who visited the memorial, said he was disgusted to find his message to Rypien ruined.
Its not cool. Its like going and spray-painting a headstone at a graveyard.
The New Westminster, B.C., resident said Rypien, who suffered from depression and committed suicide in August 2011, didnt deserve to have his memorial tarnished.
He blamed the Bieber fans young age and lack of parental supervision at the concert for the messages.
You dont see Metallica fans coming up to (the memorial) and writing Metallica stuff on it, he said. Metallica fans are mostly adults and adults know better.
Do you think it was wrong for Justin Bieber fans to write over the Rick Rypien memorial?
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