Family speaks out after woman crashes funeral, runs over gravesites at Fargo cemetery

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - A family is speaking out tonight after what was supposed to be a peaceful funeral for their loved one ended in chaos and an arrest.

It’s a story Valley News Live first broke earlier this week after 28-year-old Blair Whitten was charged with reckless endangerment. Fargo Police say she crashed her ex-boyfriend’s funeral, tried to run people over and drove over gravesites at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo on Saturday.

“She knew she wasn’t welcome and what she did instead of leaving peacefully was try to run somebody over and run somebody else over, which was me!” Gericka Charbonneau said.

The family and friends of 24-year-old Colin MacDonald say they’ve been dealing with threats and harassment from Whitten for at least five years now. So, while what unraveled Saturday afternoon was terrifying, they say it wasn’t surprising.

“All of a sudden I heard someone screaming and yelling. So, I came out of the tent to find a car taking off at about 50 miles an hour and people screaming, ‘She just ran me over!’” Colin’s mom, Joan McIntyre said.

“There were elderly, there were children, there were people here who weren’t even here for Colin’s funeral. They were here for their own people and they didn’t know what was going on!” Charbonneau, Colin’s girlfriend said.

Both women say after Whitten shared posts on social media claiming she was the one who killed Colin, as well as writing ‘666 thank the powers that be thank ME,’ on a post about the details for Colin’s funeral, they alerted Fargo Police. Charbonneau says they asked for extra patrols the day of the funeral in case Whitten showed up.

“I was afraid for my life!” she said.

However, Fargo Police say the department does not provide private security, which left it up to those in attendance to be on high-alert.

“It’s hard because you can’t even grieve because you just have so much anger and you’re scared. You’re so worried about yourself and so worried about his gravesite,” Charbonneau said.

Colin unexpectedly passed away in his sleep on April 24 following complications from a minor surgery. Colin is remembered as a man who was too smart for his own good and was always looking out for the little guy.

“You could never be sad, never could be mad because he would just bring a smile right to your face,” Charbonneau said.

“I’m gonna miss that I’m not going to see his smiling face and his eyes again,” McIntyre said.

Both women emphasized the importance of Colin being remembered as more than the spectacle that was his burial.

“He was my purpose. He made me so happy,” Charbonneau said.

“If I could have switched places with him so that he and Gericka could have had a full life together, I would have done it in an instant,” McIntyre said.

Whitten will be seen again in court in late July.

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