Bryan Bellace: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Bryan Bellace

Bryan Bellace

Bryan Bellace and Daniel Flippen have both been charged in connection to a viral video of a man appearing to urinate on the memorial for a nine-year-old boy who died of cancer.

The video in question was posted on Saturday and soon went viral. Since then, Bellace and Flippen have been arrested on charges related to the incident: Bellace was charged with lewdness and disorderly conduct, and Flippen, who was allegedly taking the video, has been charged with having an open alcoholic beverage in a public location.

The two men are 23 years old. Here’s what you need to know:


1. LOOK: Man Videotaped Peeing on 2012 Memorial for Young Boy

In the video above, which has been blurred, you can see the act as it’s filmed, in which a man urinates on the memorial for Christian Clopp, and the person filming also scans away to show a Bud Light can as well.

Though the audio has been stripped in the above video, in others you can hear laughter, as well as Bellace allegedly saying, “In memory.” The man videotaping the scene says, “Jesus Criminy.”

Mark Clopp, the father of Christian Clopp, posted the video to his Facebook page after a family friend alerted him to the incident. He then went on to release another status saying that the video had been taken down because it apparently violated Facebook’s codes of conduct, but not before over 24,000 people saw it.

Clopp wrote in a subsequent status, “Facebook took it upon themselves to delete my initial post. Apparently, it does not meet community standards. I believe 24 thousand people saw it prior to its removal. Channel 6 and Channel 10 will be running the story this evening.”


2. Christian Clopp Passed Away in 2012 From Brain Cancer

According to NJ Advance Media, Christian Clopp passed away in 2012 from brain cancer. His memorial reads in part, “A child who made the world a better place through his courage, faith, smile, laughter and love of others.”

Following news of the desecration, many community members went out to the memorial to clean it. Here’s one of many pictures taken that showed the effort by the community to restore the memorial:

The person who posted this photo wrote in part,

When Coach Desmond first heard about this story and contacted me we were both so disgusted by what we read and heard we felt we needed to go down to this memorial clean it up and disinfect it. We did not make this post for publicity but we made this post to let people know that this is our community and we don’t condone to this type of sickening act. To the Clopp family we support you, we are here for you, and if we can prevent it we will never let something like this happen again on our watch.


3. The Clopps Have No Connection to Bellace or Flippen

The Clopps have no affiliation to either of the men charged in the incident, they’ve confirmed on social media. Mark Clopp wrote in a Facebook status,

…As for the two actors: I don’t know either one of you. I have no idea what exists in your life to make you so indifferent to how others feel but I hope this serves as a wake up call and you get the help you need. I admit, my initial reaction was to find you and beat you senseless in defense of my son’s honor and the distress you caused my family. I am better than that. I hope it doesn’t take the heartache my family has lived through to open your eyes. Something is wrong in your life and you need to fix it. You have done serious damage to your reputation; only you can fix it. How you respond to this dictates the direction your life will take.

Bellace is apparently related to the owners of Bellace plumbing, a local plumbing company in the area. Clopp wrote to Facebook that the company had received several nasty phone calls following the release of the video, and he urged everyone to choose not to participate in such behavior.

He wrote, “I have been contacted by Bellace Plumbing about receiving nasty messages on their voicemail. Again, please do not do this. I know the owners of the company and I have always known them to be nice, decent people. The subject in the video may or may not be a relative but he is not the owner of the business.”

One Facebook friend commented on that post, “He’s the owner’s son”

Another commented an apparent email from Bellace’s brother, Bruce Bellace, which reads, “Yes this is my brother and I do apologize for his actions but I do not associate with that side of my family or him. He works for my father’s company. I am a completely different business.”


4. People Are Denouncing Bellace’s Alleged Actions on Twitter

In response to Bellace’s alleged act, many have stepped forward to condemn his behavior, calling him out for such a blatantly cruel act. One Twitter user wrote, “Both these ‘men’ are disgusting and should be extremely ashamed of themselves. Glad charges have been laid.”

Another person wrote on Facebook,  “I am so sorry that someone did this to you son’s memorial. It is a horrible, hateful thing. I hope the men who did this are caught and charged. But I am also saddened by the fact that hateful act has spurred more hate. I pray for your family and I’m sorry this happened.”


5. The Young Boy’s Father, Mark Clopp, Released a Statement to Facebook on the Matter

Clopp’s statement reads in part,

Okay, I have been contacted by all of our major news agencies for an on-camera interview in the past 24 hours. I have declined all. I don’t think a 10 second clip of my feelings are going to change what happened in any way. As a father and retired police officer, I think this incident can be turned into a positive by becoming a learning experience for all.

For starters, I hate vandalism of any kind. We work hard and pay a fortune in taxes and in return we all simply want to live in a nice town and have equal access to nice things which we have all paid for. Don’t tolerate graffiti or sit and watch anyone destroy public property without reporting it or saying something. The appearance of where we live affects property values and the overall morale of the community. Please teach your children this.

I am equally disgusted that this act was done at a children’s playground. It has a personal attachment because of my son but when we deprive the mist innocent among us a nice, clean, safe place to play and be kids, I find that particularly disturbing. I would love to respond as a community by adding to the playground, perhaps adding to the play area or adding landscaping/ picnic tables to make it even nicer.