Insults and accusations "Pastor showed the middle finger" - parking lot dispute in Naters VS escalates
A row in front of the rectory in Naters VS: a father wanted to park briefly to pick up his children - the priest in charge felt provoked. There was verbal abuse, an alleged jostling and serious accusations. The fronts have hardened.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- In Naters, a father and the pastor of the Brig-Glis-Naters-Mund area of faith clashed over a parking space.
- The father accuses the priest of verbal abuse, deliberately hitting him and giving him the middle finger; the priest partially rejects this.
- No criminal charges have been filed so far, and the insurance issue regarding possible damage is still open.
What began as an everyday parking situation ended in a heated argument. Around a week ago, an argument broke out between a family man and the vicar in front of the vicarage in Naters.
Marco Giulio wanted to pick up his children after school, as he told the "Walliser Boten" newspaper. He parked his car to the side of the vicarage - in a private parking space. According to his own account, this is common practice among parents who only pick up their children briefly and then leave the space free again.
Pastor feels disturbed
Pastor Jean-Pierre Brunner has long been bothered by so-called "wild parking" in front of the rectory or on the church square. It regularly happens that parents park their vehicles there. When he returns from a funeral, for example, he finds his parking space occupied, says Brunner.
That Thursday was no exception. Giulio occupied one of the two parking spaces. A confrontation ensued. Giulio says Brunner insulted him. Brunner admits that he got upset "like any normal person". He honked his horn and asked Giulio to leave the parking lot.
Accusation: "pushed away" with a car
Giulio then drove away and, according to his own account, parked his car in a no-parking zone shortly afterwards. Brunner drove up close to him with his car. Giulio accuses him of hitting his car "as if he had wanted to push me away". He had reported any damage to his insurance company.
Brunner denies this accusation to the "Walliser Bote". He had parked his vehicle correctly in the parking space, close to Giulio's car, but without touching it. There was a minimal distance between the cars. Both had taken photos of the situation. According to the report, Brunner took the photos from his balcony in order to secure the evidence for a possible insurance claim.
Middle finger accusation causes outrage
For Giulio, however, the possible damage to property is not the main problem. He accuses the priest of giving him the "middle finger with both hands" after the exchange of words. Several people had seen this, he says.
Brunner confirms that there were mutual insults, but does not want to give details. Whether everything remained within the bounds of decency "remains to be seen", he says. He does not comment further. No criminal charges have yet been filed by either side.
