Carson and Daniel Briere have found themselves in some hot water after a video surfaced of the former - a 23-year-old Mercyhurst University hockey player - shoving an unoccupied wheelchair down a flight of stairs at a bar this past weekend.
The later - a two-time NHL all-star turned interim general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers - has come under fire simply due to association with his son. With the Flyers having just fired Chuck Fletcher from his role as general manager, Briere has been on the job for less than a week and has already seen his name appear in the tabloids.
The incident in question was captured on CCTV footage at Sullivan's Pub in Erie, Pennsylvania and shared to Twitter in the early morning hours of Tuesday. The video has racked up over 10 million views and has been Tweeted around the world.
https://twitter.com/juliazukowski/status/1635537697040130048
"I was shocked to see Carson's actions in the video that was shared on social media yesterday," Daniel Briere said in a statement from the Flyers. "They are inexcusable and run completely counter to our family’s values on treating people with respect. Carson is very sorry and accepts full responsibility for his behaviour."
The third-year player at the private Roman Catholic university previously suited up with the BCHL's Trail Smoke Eaters. He was booted from the Arizona State men's team in 2019, due to ongoing violations of team rules.
"Mercyhurst University has heard a considerable outcry regarding the social media video of student Carson Briere showing him pushing an unoccupied wheelchair down a flight of stairs," Mercyhurst University shared in a statement. "Mr. Briere issues a statement taking responsibility for his actions, and in doing so, he recognized his behavior reflects a "serious lack of judgment" and that he is "deeply sorry." The actions displayed in the video make our hearts heavy and fall short of our Mercy belief in the inherent dignity of each person. We pray for and are in solidarity with the victim and all persons with disabilities who rightfully find actions like this to be deeply offensive. Our Mercy tradtition also reminds us that students and all people who make poor choices deserve opportunities to learn, change behaviors, and atone for harmful actions."
Shortly after the video surfaced, a Go-Fund-Me page was created for the wheelchair's owner, Sydney Benes, a double amputee. So far, the fundraiser has seen $9K in donations to Sydney for a new wheelchair. Sydney shared her first public statement since the incident on Wednesday night.
The Erie Police Department continue to investigate the incident, while Briere and the two other students involved in the incident have been suspended.
"Hi, I'm Sydney and it was my chair that was pushed down the stairs," she shared in a Tweet of her own. "I'm so thankful for all of Sullivan’s help in this situation and the kind comments I see on Julia’s post. I swear I really don’t wanna keep a cent of the donated money, I’d much rather give it to those who need it.
"I’m lucky enough to have the resources to help me but I’ve learned that so many disabled people have no support, no help, and no damn love," she added. "And it hurts my heart so I'm going to do whatever I can to help. I will do my best to take this opportunity to not only teach people about us and what we go through but also I want to use the donation money to help those who don’t have the kind of support systems I do."
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