I really don't know what to think about all this.  I really don't. 

I agree with everyone who has said that this is a time when we need to take a collective breather, chill out, and let the family grieve.  We don't do the living who are attempting to get over the loss of a fallen one any justice with angry words, harsh options, or being defensive about the art.  Just give them their time and let them mourn the loss of a young son. 

The problems are with the media.  Like it or not, Parkour is becoming something that is taking off in a major way around the country.  I do not wish to be the eternal pessimist about the media, but after stuff like MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge appeared on TV I said to myself "this is going to get really bad when someone finally gets injured seriously or killed and Parkour is mentioned at any point."  Lo and behold, my worst fears come true.  KCRA, looking for something to spice up a story, decided to hook Parkour into their piece on Kenny's death.  In doing so, they pervert the art and everything it stands for just to get a few more hits on their website for the article and videos. 

I would humbly suggest that every traceur here for a few moments today or sometime this week take a few moments and send positive vibes to Kenny and his family at this point.  If the media attempts to contact you, simply refrain from comment or state that you send your condolences to a family in grief.  Don't give them the ammunition they want by being defensive; as Mr. Chess said we will have our day when all of this cools down.  The moment is still very hot and this is still enough in the spotlight where one ill chosen word can cause problems for us all.

Finally, let this be a moment when we can all unite as the shining community that we are.  One of the things that I love so much about APK, one of the reasons I have our Glyph inked on my flesh for life, is because we stand for something positive--strength, discipline, perseverance, and the transcendence of obstacles that most people choose to let stand in their way.  We can do the same thing here and transcend the obstacles that we have placed in our path with regards to how we react to the death of a fallen brother.  I choose to send my sorrows out and the condolences to a family in grief, not react or look in anger. I invite you all to do the same. 

How about this...

I am walking next to a cliff and I fall off.

The news wouldn't report that "Walking may be to blame.".

See my point?

Agreed. This news story is completely sensational and used purely to insult parkour. They did not even acknowledge the loss of his life or praise him for something good he did. They quoted "very good kid" and "genius" on purpose as if to sarcastically insult the kid. That is not cool. Their sole purpose was to discourage people from participating in parkour by instilling fear using false information.
I am especially disgusted with that lady in the car saying that kid should not expect to do these things and not get seriously hurt or die. Clearly she has not read anything about parkour. To be honest, when I first heard about parkour, my impression was that it was reckless and not for me. But I took the time to lurk around here and grew to love it. My parents also though it looked uncivilized and dangerous at first, but now they understand and support it.
The reporters even suggested that there are many more parkour related injuries and death that aren't reported. The parkour clips they showed aren't even that dangerous. I don't think a vault over a 3 ft railing or a ~7 ft drop could injure someone who has been training for years.

yes, lets keep this serious (just read that as i was clicking "post")

i just want to let everyone know what i said is something i would definitely say to peoples faces. maybe if i was talking to Mrs. Ta i wouldnt have been speaking so negatively about the news aspect, and it would be more-so focused on her loss; my post, however, was not directed towards her. yes, i realize she could read it and she has every right to, but my post was directed towards our community and the media im which case i think most of you could easily agree with my comments.


again, i give condolences to the family, your son/sibling will be missed.

Excellent, use their own logic against him.

Really though.  I'm all sad that he died D:

FYI I removed three posts about Trolls which don't belong in this thread. - M2

ill PM cloud about it (he runs chicagoparkour.com)

I saw this yesterday and is a very sad story. Was I the only one who found the one mothers response to be obnoxious and snotty? I felt offended and wanted to you know...In any sport you have to understand there are consequences and your are going to get hurt... but as long as we respect that and understand that there is always the chance then no body is to blame.  but yeah best of wishes to the family... hmmm

This is what the guys from the wfpf need to show MTV so they'll know that people could die if parkour isn't portrayed in the correct way.

Damned Berreta, that's some really simple but, deep and true stuff.
I agree 100% with you.