Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Words Used by WDBJ Reporter Alison Parker That Killer Claimed Were ‘Racist’
Blaze ^ | Aug 28, 2015 | Dave Urbanski

Posted on 08/28/2015 1:14:46 PM PDT by robowombat

When Alison Parker was an intern at WDBJ in 2012, Vester Lee Flanagan — then a reporter for the station — heard her utter what he apparently considered to be racist words.

Parker made reference to “swinging” by a destination and also referred to heading out into the “field,” according to Flanagan’s 2013 complaint with the station, the New York Post reported.

Parker wasn’t disciplined over her word choices, the Post reported, and Flanagan was fired a month after leveling his racism accusations against Parker, which were part of his failed discrimination lawsuit against the station.

Two years later, Flanagan fatally shot Parker, 24, and TV cameraman Adam Ward, 27, during a live news broadcast Wednesday morning. On the run, using a Twitter account under his on-air name Bryce Williams, Flanagan cited Parker’s “racist comments” in a stream of tweets. Police said Flanagan died later that day of a self-inflicted gunshot.

“That’s how that guy’s mind worked,” Ryan Fuqua, a WDBJ video editor, told the New York Post of Flanagan’s racism claims. “Just crazy, left-field assumptions like that.”

“[Those words are] just common, everyday talk. [But] that was his MO — to start s**t,” Fuqua added. “He was unstable. One time, after one of our live shots failed, he threw all his stuff down and ran into the woods for like 20 minutes.”

WDBJ cameraman Trevor Fair recalled others using the term “field” around Flanagan: “We would say stuff like, ‘The reporter’s out in the field.’ And he would look at us and say, ‘What are you saying, ‘cotton fields’? That’s racist,’” he told the Post.

“We’d be like, ‘What?’” he added. “We all know what that means, but he took it as cotton fields, and therefore we’re all racists.”

“This guy was a nightmare,” Fair told the Post. “Management’s worst nightmare.”

Then there was the time a station manager brought in watermelon for all employees. “Of course, he thought that was racist. He was like, ‘You’re doing that because of me.’ No, the general manager brought in watermelon for the entire news team. He’s like, ‘Nope, this is out for me. You guys are calling me out because I’m black.’”

7-Eleven’s sale of watermelon-flavored Slurpees didn’t escape Flanagan’s observations, either.

“It’s not a coincidence, they’re racist,” Fair recalled Flanagan saying.

One of Parker’s former classmates, who is black, said the slain reporter was anything but racist.

“When I took [my journalism] job, she recommended me,” Jessica Albert, who attended James Madison University with Parker, told the Associated Press. “She di


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: mentalillness; vesterleeflanagan; virginia; wdbj
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-57 last
To: BwanaNdege

My experience comes from working for two years as a
night attendant at an insane asylum back in the early 70’s,
while I was working my way through college.
Any attempted rationale, explanation, reasoning, logic, or prediction
is simply not applicable to the circumstance.
The crazy person cannot explain “why” they do what they do, and
a sane person is simply wasting their time trying to figure it out.
Crazy people do crazy things because they are crazy.
That is all you need to know or remember.


41 posted on 08/28/2015 2:25:17 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (I was conceived in liberty, how about you?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: demshateGod
He was only hired because he was black.

What a vicious lie!! He was hired because he was black AND gay!! Get's credit for two quotas in one hire.

42 posted on 08/28/2015 2:46:07 PM PDT by LambSlave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: jonascord
You SAY you didn't know that "going out in the field" is a reference to slavery, but if you had closely read the Old White Guys Manual, you would have learned it, along with the secret handshake and the Private Rite of Membership... Oops, I've said too much!

That's alright this has already been exposed in a documentary years ago.

43 posted on 08/28/2015 2:49:45 PM PDT by mc5cents (Pray for America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

The real guestion that must be asked is why was he hired in the first place? Would not have been difficult to uncover a history of problems he had in previous jobs.


44 posted on 08/28/2015 2:54:32 PM PDT by TruthWillWin (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TruthWillWin

Wonder how he reacted to the word ‘Ho.’


45 posted on 08/28/2015 3:05:02 PM PDT by FirstFlaBn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: LambSlave
What a vicious lie!! He was hired because he was black AND gay!! Get's credit for two quotas in one hire.

Three: Black, Gay, and handicapped (mental — severe paranoia).

46 posted on 08/28/2015 3:33:54 PM PDT by Swordmaker ( This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: TruthWillWin
The real guestion that must be asked is why was he hired in the first place? Would not have been difficult to uncover a history of problems he had in previous jobs.

Because of the legal environment, an employer must never reveal WHY an employee was let go. . . never. The most you can say is that, yes, he/she was employed at your business and they were employed from such and such a date to such and such a date. You may be asked "Would you hire this employee again?" to which you may voluntarily answer "Yes" or "No" but it is not advised to answer one way of the other. . . and never give a reason unless the answer is "yes." For this reason, we never fire an employee unless police are involved, we merely "lay them off" and any reason is a change in business conditions or plans. You don't provide any reason for legal action.

47 posted on 08/28/2015 3:40:04 PM PDT by Swordmaker ( This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: demshateGod
He was only hired because he was black.

Exactly. Being an on-air reporter is a coveted job. He only got it because he was black, but of course he felt entitled to the job...and to be coddled by no one ever being allowed to say any word he objected to.

48 posted on 08/28/2015 4:09:20 PM PDT by Nea Wood
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Repeal The 17th

My fault - I was comparing Clementines (tangerines) with bitter lemons. I was thinking of all the borderline folks running around with no concept of accountability to a stable society, let alone accountability to God. You were referring to the bona fide, certified crazies as so evaluated 40+ years ago.

Tough job you had, right? Did you go into that field, or get as far away as possible?


49 posted on 08/28/2015 4:21:56 PM PDT by BwanaNdege ("When the left wins, they're in power; when the right wins, they're in office." - Mark Steyn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: BwanaNdege

There was a time in our society when such people were identified and locked away.
In the mid seventies, the liberals decided that was in-humane, and released them all.
Those people now sleep in the public parks and under bridge abutments and eat from garbage cans.


50 posted on 08/28/2015 4:47:51 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (I was conceived in liberty, how about you?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

No one knows what Parker said or didn’t say.

It is irresponsible, absurd in fact, to republish the words of her killer as if they were a fact.


51 posted on 08/28/2015 4:50:09 PM PDT by Jim Noble (You walk into the room like a camel and then you frown)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

Psycho, perv, moron -— and Obama supporter.


52 posted on 08/28/2015 5:17:48 PM PDT by Amagi (Lenin: "Socialized Medicine is the Keystone to the Arch of the Socialist State.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lee martell

A professional grievance collector...


53 posted on 08/28/2015 5:36:18 PM PDT by bigbob (The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. Abraham Lincoln)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

And this is what SJW’s (social justice warriors) have wrought. We are running into our own version of the Cultural Revolution.


54 posted on 08/28/2015 6:04:54 PM PDT by Fred Hayek (The Democratic Party is now the operational arm of the CPUSA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pgkdan

“Maybe some of the folks who are teaching others to think exactly as this man did will see what they’re doing and stop. I don’t expect them to but one can hope.”

The folks who are teaching exactly as this man did do see what they are doing and will continue to do so. The end result of what happened here is EXACTLY what they want. Anything to further their “revolution”.


55 posted on 08/28/2015 6:17:02 PM PDT by Fred Hayek (The Democratic Party is now the operational arm of the CPUSA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: robowombat
2015 Dummy's Guide To Bad Words
n*gg**
f*ck
field
sh*t
swing

56 posted on 08/28/2015 7:44:39 PM PDT by tinyowl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 11th Commandment

I agree. He was not crazy. This was a logical result of the left’s microagression, pc nonsense that they spout all day long.

It’s the left’s fault.


57 posted on 08/29/2015 6:29:05 AM PDT by joshua c (Please dont feed the liberals)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-57 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson