Tweet
Man Distraught Over Bush Win Commits Suicide At Ground Zero
Man commits suicide at Ground Zero
Email this story
Printer friendly format
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Stories
Fire blazes with kids home alone
Victim of stray bullet paralyzed
Man beaten outside club
Police nab 3 men in drug bust
BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA, DEBORAH MORRIS AND SEAN GARDINER
Staff Writers
November 6, 2004, 7:11 PM EST
Distraught over the re-election of President George W. Bush, a Georgia man traveled to New York City, went to Ground Zero and killed himself with a shotgun blast, police said yesterday.
The suicide victim, Andrew Veal, 25, was discovered just before 8 a.m. yesterday when a worker for the Millennium Hotel looking at Ground Zero from an upper floor saw a man lying atop the concrete structure through which the 1 and 9 subway lines run.
The worker, thinking the man was sleeping, alerted colleagues and the Port Authority police were notified.
But when they got to Veal's body, they realized he had killed himself with a shot to the head from a .12-gauge shotgun.
No suicide note was found, but according to a Port Authority police source, family members said Veal, a registered Democrat, was despondent over Bush's defeat of Sen. John Kerry. A second source said Veal, who lived in Athens, Ga., and worked for the University of Georgia, was also adamantly opposed to the war in Iraq.
More than three years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Ground Zero remains a top tourist attraction, the site rife with symbolism.
Visitors there yesterday reacted in different ways to news of Veal's suicide. Bobbie Jensen, 54, a Republican from Phoenix, said that while she understood how Bush's victory disturbed those who dislike him, Ground Zero is not the place to act on those emotions.
"You can be upset about the war, about Bush, but this is a sacred place," she said. "You got to accept what happened and not kill yourself." But Frank Franca, an East Village artist and registered Democrat, suggested the suicide was symbolic.
"I'm very moved by it," he said. "Obviously, this person was devastated. I can see why he would come here."
Franca's friend, Jeffim Kuznetsov, a 25-year-old student from Russia who lives in Atlanta, said the suicide is evidence of how deeply many Americans were affected by Kerry's defeat.
"It's a national tragedy," he said. "This election is devastating to all who believe in democracy."
Another visitor to Ground Zero, Arushi Raval, 34, a businesswoman who lives in Chelsea, said Veal might have been active in campaigning for Kerry, only to taste defeat.
"Maybe he felt ineffective," she said of the victim. "You feel ineffective if you tried and it all failed.
"I know so many New Yorkers who are depressed over this."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Email this story
Printer friendly format
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Stories
Fire blazes with kids home alone
Victim of stray bullet paralyzed
Man beaten outside club
Police nab 3 men in drug bust
BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA, DEBORAH MORRIS AND SEAN GARDINER
Staff Writers
November 6, 2004, 7:11 PM EST
Distraught over the re-election of President George W. Bush, a Georgia man traveled to New York City, went to Ground Zero and killed himself with a shotgun blast, police said yesterday.
The suicide victim, Andrew Veal, 25, was discovered just before 8 a.m. yesterday when a worker for the Millennium Hotel looking at Ground Zero from an upper floor saw a man lying atop the concrete structure through which the 1 and 9 subway lines run.
The worker, thinking the man was sleeping, alerted colleagues and the Port Authority police were notified.
But when they got to Veal's body, they realized he had killed himself with a shot to the head from a .12-gauge shotgun.
No suicide note was found, but according to a Port Authority police source, family members said Veal, a registered Democrat, was despondent over Bush's defeat of Sen. John Kerry. A second source said Veal, who lived in Athens, Ga., and worked for the University of Georgia, was also adamantly opposed to the war in Iraq.
More than three years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Ground Zero remains a top tourist attraction, the site rife with symbolism.
Visitors there yesterday reacted in different ways to news of Veal's suicide. Bobbie Jensen, 54, a Republican from Phoenix, said that while she understood how Bush's victory disturbed those who dislike him, Ground Zero is not the place to act on those emotions.
"You can be upset about the war, about Bush, but this is a sacred place," she said. "You got to accept what happened and not kill yourself." But Frank Franca, an East Village artist and registered Democrat, suggested the suicide was symbolic.
"I'm very moved by it," he said. "Obviously, this person was devastated. I can see why he would come here."
Franca's friend, Jeffim Kuznetsov, a 25-year-old student from Russia who lives in Atlanta, said the suicide is evidence of how deeply many Americans were affected by Kerry's defeat.
"It's a national tragedy," he said. "This election is devastating to all who believe in democracy."
Another visitor to Ground Zero, Arushi Raval, 34, a businesswoman who lives in Chelsea, said Veal might have been active in campaigning for Kerry, only to taste defeat.
"Maybe he felt ineffective," she said of the victim. "You feel ineffective if you tried and it all failed.
"I know so many New Yorkers who are depressed over this."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Comment