Good Riddance Mr. Kelly
One of the most despicable tactics used in biased journalism is falsely claiming that an event is being politicized by the other side in an attempt to deflect validity from the actual issues. Shortly after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 20 elementary school children dead (as well as 6 adults) conspiracy stories were circulated by the likes Alex Jones, suggesting that the victims were actually actors staging an event for political reasons. Following the recent shooting at a Parkland Florida High School a man named Benjamin Kelly (who was working as an aide Florida State Representative Shawn Harrison) emailed a reporter stating that the students appearing on television news were actually “actors”. Mr. Kelly has been fired as a result. All I can say is…good riddance Mr. Kelly.
A Florida representative’s aide lost his job Tuesday after sending an email to a reporter falsely alleging that two students who survived the Florida school shooting — and were speaking out on TV — are “actors.”
Benjamin Kelly, who worked as district secretary for Florida State Representative Shawn Harrison, emailed a Tampa Bay Times journalist with a message that read: “Both kids in the picture are not students here but actors that travel to various crisis when they happen.”
Several Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students who have advocated for stricter gun laws, have become the subject of conspiracy theories and smear campaigns.
Alex Leary, the Washington bureau chief for the Tampa Bay Times, who received the email said the message had been sent using state email. Leary told CNN it had been in response to his story that published in the morning. Leary said he had never before spoken to Kelly and that the email was completely unsolicited.
After receiving the email, Leary spoke to Kelly on the phone to verify his employment and to question him about the email. After that conversation, Leary said Kelly sent him another email with a link to a video that made similar assertions about the students being actors.
Later in the day, Kelly was fired from his job.
CNN has reached out to both Kelly and Harrison.
Kelly posted about it on a Twitter account that is no longer available to the public: “I’ve been terminated from the State House. I made a mistake whereas I tried to inform a reporter of information relating to his story regarding a school shooting. This was not my responsibility. I meant no disrespect to the students or parents of Parkland.”
