Friday night a user named Storm Durham (@chelstorrm) posted a completely fanatical story claiming that she was fired from her government job in Roanoke Virginia Department of Social Services because they found out she had a concealed carry permit. If you possess an IQ of at least 60, you would realize that this story is utter crap. Not only are CC permits legal in Virginia, but there is no reason to be fired for possessing one.
Here is what she posted:
Um.
Then she started tagging the typical right wing echo chamber tools: Tomi Lahren, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Greg Gutfeld Show, Laura Ingraham, Shannon Bream, Kim Guilfoyle, Laura Loomer, Clint Eastwood and Donald Trump. Dana Loesch's husband tweeted at her, among others.
Oh, a funding page is up:
So I jumped all over this. Personal story: I used to work for the State of Maryland in a similar field. I know how hard it is to get fired from a government job. There are various steps that must be followed: verbal warnings, retraining, written warnings, probation, etc. You don't just randomly get fired, unless you break a law, assault someone at work, bring drugs to work, etc.
I tweeted at her:
She responded:
I asked for her termination letter:
She refused to post it. The weekend went on...
Snopes looked into it and declared her story "fake"
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/was-a-dss-worker-fired-in-roanoke-city...
The Roanoke Times got some answers in the form of official statements from Roanoke government representatives, which said in part, “In light of these assertions, however, it is important to note that the City of Roanoke respects the Constitutional rights of its citizens and that the dismissal in question was not based upon anyone’s exercise of such rights.”
Roanoke Human Resources Director Michele Vineyard, said, "The actions taken by the City were not based upon the former employee’s right to hold a concealed carry permit for firearms. I want to emphasize that we have no policy or procedure limiting the right of employees to hold concealed carry permits as authorized by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. We respect and support the Constitutional rights of our employees as citizens.”
Durham finally received a letter explaining the reasons she was terminated, though she denies all of them. It turns out she was just a terrible employee. Unprofessional, had awful attendance, showed an unwillingness to correct her behaviors, had time management issues and created "workplace safety issues" for her agency. Sounds like she was terminated for cause.
But we don't expect the gun nuts to retract their support. They've gotten the traction they wanted with their social media crowds, after all.
