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By Dave Russell, The Sylva Herald, and Cory Vaillancourt, The Smoky Mountain News
The Sylva Herald and The Smoky Mountain News last Friday received anonymous emails threatening both publications if the papers, specifically The Herald, do not report on the Fontana Regional Library kerfuffle the way the author of the email wants.
Threats and extortion will not change the truth or our reporting about it.
We remain committed to telling the story of the FRL as it unfolds and without outside influence. In an era when the media is under unprecedented attack from the Trump administration, it is more important than ever to stand up to bullying of the First Amendment.
The email threatens to release the text messages of a county commission candidate as well as other “damning information.”
It starts with five lies and never lets up:
“It has been made known in local circles that Sylva Herald staff members, [editor] Dave Russell and [reporter] Beth Lawrence, are colluding with extremists to deliberately spread falsehoods concerning the area libraries and encouraging a mob response,” the author says. “Sometimes involving threatening and sabotaging behavior. ie. ‘hacking phones’ of board members.”
None of the claims are based in reality.
It was a phone – or two – that most likely led to the email.
Casey Wallawender, a candidate in the Democratic Primary Election for Board of Commissioners District 1, attended the meeting of the Fontana Regional Library Board on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Behind her sat Jim Gaston of Franklin, a vocal FRL critic.
Gaston began talking about Wallawender before the meeting began, forcing her to move her children, she said.
“He was two rows behind me,” Wallawender said in a Friday interview. “He said ‘Don’t say anything loud enough for this one to hear,’ pointing at me. She’s really nasty.’ So I moved my kids away.”
Wallawender texted meeting updates to Russell and Lawrence, neither of whom could attend the meeting.
The next day, Wednesday, Jan. 14, Wallawender walked down Mill Street by the new GOP headquarters.
“As I was turning away with my back to the headquarters, Keith Blaine ran out and said ‘Casey! Did you have fun talking to Dave and Beth at the meeting last night?’” Wallawender said.
Blaine is the chair of the local GOP, according to the organization’s website.
How did Blaine know Wallawender was texting with Russell and Lawrence? Did he hack Wallawender’s phone? He did not sit behind her where he could potentially look over her shoulder.
His friend Jim Gaston did.
The author of the email sent a sampling of text messages sent during the meeting, which they claim Wallawender “leaked.” In reality, they were most likely observed from over Wallawender’s shoulder and are not presented verbatim.
Walawender [sic] — “Voted yes to splitting Tracey’s job.”
Dave Russell — “Let me guess, they’re going to keep her in Silva (sic) and put Blaine in over the FRL.”
Beth — “Very likely.”
Walawender [sic] — “It’s about to get me riled up……….It’s clear they do not understand what they are doing………I’m going to lose my mind. They confuse themselves. They’re too dumb.”
Blaine went from a “y’ain’t from ‘round here” nobody to GOP Chair and JCPL board member in three or four years. A rise to FRL board chair would not be a surprise given the current makeup of the board.
The anonymous email claims “these individuals encourage agitation and unprofessionally mock duly appointed FRL board members and elected county commissioners. Such unethical behavior seriously undermines the Sylva Herald’s credibility and opens this newspaper up to legal ramifications and public embarrassment.”
“YOU MUST CEASE publication of all falsehoods, slander, and spin,” the email continues without offering an example. “The Sylva Herald must CEASE ALL COLLUSION WITH EXTREMISTS. Period. Furthermore, Dave Russell and Beth Lawrence should resign immediately. Dave Russell doesn’t even live in Jackson County and regularly disregards objective truth while concealing facts. He has also been caught red handed by his own words making threats.”
More word salad no one understands, more baseless allegations. And, Russell lives in Jackson County.
Then the threats and extortion begin:
“Other damning text threads reveal more collusion members, such as Fontana Library staff, but shall remain unnamed to you – for now … Let us be clear. If the Sylva Herald continues this bias and mob-oriented campaign of lies in upcoming publications, the collusion with a special interest group and all other extensive receipts will be made public in the most comprehensive way possible.”
Does this word salad rise to the level of a threat, or extortion? That’s up for law enforcement to decide, and both the Sylva Police Department and the Waynesville Police Department have been notified.
In a similar email sent to The Smoky Mountain News, Kyle Perrotti, news editor, is named as an “extremist,” as were Jackson County Public Library Board member Lauren Baxley and vocal FRL supporter Antoinette MacWatt.
“Threatening those who report the news because you don’t like the news isn’t how it works in our country,” said Scott McLeod, publisher of The Smoky Mountain News. “We are committed to covering the library issue and won’t be bullied by a few who are upset by the coverage. The allegations made against the Sylva Herald are laughable but also very disturbing.”
The email ends with an entreaty to visit www.fontantruth.wordpress.com [sic], an anonymous blog with a few kernels of truth but piles of horsefeathers like this in between: “The FRL mob has repeatedly proven they do not care about the integrity of our libraries and instead support a top-down approach to control what happens in our sacred libraries. Propaganda, deceit, and manipulation with the cooperation of the FRL Director(s) have been their means.”
No one knows what that word salad means, either.
The email concludes with an ominous, authoritarian message.
“This is your only warning. We will not respond to you,” it reads. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Now it’s time to put up or shut up. We encourage the author of the email to release whatever they have. Post it anywhere, but not anonymously. We put our names on everything we write. Half the people in our respective counties know our cellphone numbers. Don’t hide. Put your name to it.
This story was co-published by both The Sylva Herald and The Smoky Mountain News.
