XPost: triangle.politics, alt.politics.socialism.democratic, school.general   
   XPost: ucb.politics   
   From: lying-pricks@msnbc.com   
      
   (CNN)The job offer seemed a promising start for Vester Flanagan:   
   He would be a multimedia journalist using the name Bryce   
   Williams at WDBJ making $17.31 an hour, or $36,000 yearly, in   
   early 2012.   
      
   But it took only two months on the job for him to receive a   
   written note in his personnel file about how he made co-workers   
   feel "threatened and uncomfortable" with abusive verbal and body   
   language on three occasions, according to court documents.   
      
   Two more months later, Flanagan faced a written warning that he   
   would be fired unless he improved immediately. His harsh   
   language and aggressive gestures were causing "a great deal of   
   friction" with photographers and other co-workers at the TV   
   station in Roanoke, Virginia, documents say.   
      
   Supervisors ordered him to get help through an employee   
   assistance program because of his "anger and his inability to   
   work with colleagues from time to time," said Jeffrey Marks,   
   WDBJ's general manager.   
      
   Flanagan complied. But in the end, he was fired after 11 months   
   on the job.   
      
   On the day he was fired -- February 1, 2013 -- the station's   
   human resources representative called 911 because Flanagan   
   warned, "I'm not leaving, you're going to have to call the   
   f***ing police. ... I'm going to make a stink and it's going to   
   be in the headlines."   
      
   Flanagan tossed his news director a small wooden cross and   
   added, "You need this."   
      
   The director then cleared the newsroom, and police removed   
   Flanagan.   
      
   Flanagan's brief, troubled tenure at WDBJ was revealed in court   
   papers filed in his lawsuit claiming racial discrimination and   
   wrongful termination. A Roanoke city judge dismissed the lawsuit   
   on July 2, more than a month before Flanagan, 41, went on a   
   rampage and killed two station journalists and then himself.   
      
   Trying to understand why   
   A day after the shootings, WDBJ executives struggled to say what   
   they could have done differently with the troubled employee.   
      
   "There were probably things we can do," Marks said. "We can   
   probably screen more, but by and large we get great employees   
   here. One is going to slip through the cracks every now and   
   then. I'm very proud of our hiring record."   
      
   Station employees said they had interacted with Flanagan without   
   incident since he was fired, which makes his actions this week   
   all the more baffling to them, Marks said. Flanagan lost his   
   complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity   
   Commission, he said.   
      
   "We're still at a loss to figure out what happened to him in   
   those 2½ years," Marks said.   
      
   Before hiring him, the station called Flanagan's references, who   
   all gave positive reviews, he said.   
      
   But Marks noted: "It's very hard to get a negative reference   
   these days. Most companies have policies that forbid their   
   people from giving references. And so what you get a lot of is   
   name, rank and serial number.   
      
   "I think anybody can make positive references happen if they try   
   hard enough, so we exhausted what we could on that," he said.   
      
   As for Flanagan's on-air and writing ability, Marks said that "I   
   don't think he was the strongest quality applicant we've ever   
   had, but he passed muster of the news management team at that   
   time."   
      
   A dangerous 'injustice collector'   
   Flanagan displayed traits of what a former FBI profiler calls   
   "an injustice collector," someone who blames others for their   
   problems, asserts nothing is their fault and contends everyone   
   is insulting them even when it's not true.   
      
   But Flanagan seems to have been a dangerous kind of injustice   
   collector, because he showed aggression and made threats, said   
   Mary Ellen O'Toole, a psychologist and a former FBI agent for 28   
   years who worked in the Behavioral Analysis Unit.   
      
   More professionals are offering expertise and guidance to   
   corporations, businesses and universities on how to fire or   
   expel potentially violent people such as Flanagan, she said.   
      
   "We get calls all the time on how do you fire this person,"   
   O'Toole said.   
      
   A psychologist, police officer, security expert, or mental   
   health professional is hired to keep in touch with the   
   individual even after he or she has been fired, she said. This   
   new field is advanced by the Association of Threat Assessment   
   Professionals, O'Toole said.   
      
   "Just cutting ties with him may feel good, but you have no idea   
   of what you unleash," she said.   
      
   The post-firing service is designed to defuse any potential   
   violence and help the individual get on with his life, O'Toole   
   said.   
      
   "It's a new normal," she said. "It allows you to sit down with   
   someone, and you do it in a very therapeutic and supportive way."   
      
   Monitoring includes whether any police reports have been filed   
   against the fired employee for violent behavior.   
      
   "I know people will say that will cost a lot of money. I'm   
   talking one person out of 100 or maybe 500 who gets fired" who   
   may be potentially dangerous and need the service, she added.   
      
   "It's not a perfect science, and it never will be, but we're   
   pretty good at it," O'Toole said.   
      
   Newsroom films Flanagan's outburst   
   Flanagan's dismissal and confrontation with police were so   
   dramatic that staff photographer Adam Ward picked up a camera   
   and recorded the moment in the newsroom. On the day police led   
   him out of the office, Flanagan snarled at Ward, saying "lose   
   your big gut." Flanagan then flipped off Ward's camera.   
      
   It was Ward, 27, along with WDBJ reporter Alison Parker, 24, who   
   Flanagan killed Wednesday during a live remote broadcast.   
      
   Who were the victims?   
      
   They were interviewing Vicki Gardner, the executive director of   
   the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, near   
   Moneta, Virginia. Gardner, who was wounded, was in stable   
   condition after surgery. Her husband said a bullet grazed her   
   spine.   
      
   Authorities are still investigating the circumstances of the   
   shooting, but Flanagan left behind a 23-page note that lists his   
   grievances.   
      
   Trouble with performance, too   
   The station's internal records about Flanagan, filed in a   
   Roanoke court, also show that he was performing poorly on the   
   job in some areas.   
      
   His August 2012 performance review gave him an "unacceptable,"   
   the lowest score on a scale of 1 to 5, on his ability to work   
   with photographers, producers and assignment editors.   
      
   "The area where Bryce must make immediate improvement is with   
   photographers," wrote his supervisor, David Seidel.   
      
   Shooter's 23-page rant is filled with rage and praise   
      
   Flanagan also wasn't contributing to the Web frequently enough,   
   receiving a scoring category that is listed as "has an   
   opportunity for improvement." That amounted to a score of 2 on   
   the 1-to-5 scale, with 5 being the highest score.   
      
   "Bryce needs to incorporate web posting into his daily   
   schedule," Seidel wrote.   
      
   Flanagan confronts anchor over his script   
   By December 24, 2012, station news director Dan Dennison told   
   Flanagan that despite a lot of coaching, "you seem to have   
      
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