Beach umbrella bingo

I don't know whether Andrew McClatchy is rich or not. He's the president/owner of a company that sells used printing equipment. So who knows. But he's rich enough to own beachfront property in North Kingstown, RI.

But in Rhode Island, owning beachfront property ain't what it used to be:

The state recently passed a law giving people the right to access the shore if they’re no more than 10 feet landward of the recognizable high tide line. (Source: Boston Globe)

And on Sunday, town resident Chris Brady - finding the abutting town beach overcrowded - decided to take advantage of the new law, so he took his wife, his 10-year-old daughter and her friend, along with their beach blanket, their snacks, their beach umbrella, a couple of beach chairs, and Brady's paddleboard, and they spread out - within the 10-foot line of demarcation in front of the McClatchy home. (I don't know whether Andrew McClatchy is rich of not, but Zillow's got that beach house at $1,365,000.)

Andrew McClatchy was not happy to have the Brady bunch in front of his house. So he came out and asked them to leave. 

Knowing his rights, Brady said 'thanks/no thanks' and stood his ground.

Things escalated from there, and - among his escalation tactics - McClatchy shoved his camera (he was filming the confrontation) in the face of Brady's child. At which point, Brady began pushing back using sharper language than he'd been using. Really, who stands by and lets someone get in his kid's face. WTF, Andrew McClatchy? And then:

At one point during the confrontation, witnesses say, McClatchy ripped the family’s umbrella out of the sand and threw it in the water. Brady’s daughter went to get it. McClatchy ripped it out again, witnesses said. McClatchy then took the umbrella and broke it, Brady and other witnesses told The Boston Globe and police.

“He just mauled it, tore it apart, broke it in half,” Brady said.

McClatchy also used words like, “Come at me!” and “Bring it!,” and used profane language in front of Brady’s daughter, according to a police report. 

Meanwhile, a bystander had called the police. The police came, spoke to the principals and a number of witnesses, and arrested and handcuffed McClatchy. He's been charged with vandalism and disorderly conduct. (Both are misdemeanor charges.)

McClatchy told the cops that he believed Brady was a "'Marxist antagonizer,'" who was deliberately provoking McClatchy into a confrontation. 

“There was nothing Marxist about it,” Brady said. “I was eating pretzels and drinking water on the beach.”

(Seriously, doesn't Brady realize that pretzels are the opiates of the masses?) 

I understand why McClatchy isn't enamored of the new law. He's used to the beach being his front yard, for the exclusive use of his friends and family. So it's probably a tough pill to swallow. Still, going on the attack against those who are in their rights...

For the McClatchy family, confrontation with beach front interlopers is nothing new.

The area is something of a local hotspot for shore confrontations; a witness said McClatchy’s wife, Debra, ripped a baby’s tent out of a family’s hands in a similar argument last year, before the new law went into effect.

Sometimes a trip to the beach is just a trip to the beach, no?

I'll give the last word to Chris Brady. 

“It was rage,” said beachgoer Chris Brady. “There’s road rage — but this was beach rage.”

Semi-last word, anyway.

Mine is: Swell! One more thing to worry about.