After being called out for allegedly parking in a bike lane, it didn’t take long for a New York state senator to resort to violent taunts.

Kevin Parker, a Democrat from Brooklyn, tweeted “kill yourself” at a state senate staffer on Tuesday after she pointed out that his parking placard had been found on a car blocking a bike lane in Manhattan. Parker quickly deleted the tweet, though not before a reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper took a screenshot:

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Things began when a cyclist posted photos of a white Volkswagen blocking a bike lane last Thursday, noting that it had a New York State Senate parking placard in the window. Candice Giove, a deputy communications director for senate Republicans, retweeted the photos on Tuesday morning and said that the placard belonged to Parker—no pun intended—though she also mentioned that the license plate number on the Volkswagen didn’t match that on the placard.

(When asked if either the placard or Volkswagen were Parker’s, an aide for the senator told Bicycling, “We’re not at liberty to answer any questions.”)

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It got to the bottom of this. The placard is assigned to @SenatorParker. However, the license plate # on the placard does not match the vehicle. So he either used it in another car or gave it to someone to use, both of which are not permitted. https://t.co/qPYi92BIbt — Candice Giove (@candicegiove) December 18, 2018

Yet while the incident began (as many do) with a car parked in a bike lane, it soon escalated into bigger, broader, nastier spat between a Democrat and a Republican. Parker responded with his now-deleted taunt—one commonly found on anonymous message boards and comment sections, but not usually issued from the official social media accounts of elected officials.

Though he quickly apologized to Giove on Twitter, he later doubled down on his general criticisms of the staffer in interviews with the New York Daily News and the Times Union. While standing by his apology, he called Giove a “Twitter troll” and attacked her political associations.



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I sincerely apologize. I used a poor choice of words. Suicide is a serious thing and and should not be made light of. — Senator Kevin Parker (@SenatorParker) December 18, 2018

However, Parker does have a history of violent behavior when it comes to parking his ride. The Daily News reported that in 2009, he assaulted a New York Post photographer who was covering an alleged feud between the senator and an Albany parking lot attendant, while in 2005 he was charged with punching a traffic agent and ordered to take an anger-management course.

Almost exactly a year ago, another New York state senator, Republican Martin Golden, was accused of driving in a Brooklyn bike lane, impersonating a police officer, and ordering a cyclist to get out of the way. Golden lost his reelection to Democrat Andrew Gounardes in November.

Matt Bevilacqua News Editor, Bicycling Matt is a reporter, writer, and editor who has covered bicycling since 2014, when he cofounded a small bike magazine called SPOKE in Philadelphia.

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