The woman who said unarmed Stephon Clark “deserved” to die because he was “being stupid” has raised close to $25,000 in a GoFundMe account.
Faith Linthicum was fired from Kaiser Permanente after writing on Facebook that Clark, a young father of two, had it coming when he was shot in the back repeatedly by two Sacramento police officers.
“Yeah but he was running from the police jumping over fences and breaking in peoples housewhy run!!! He deserved it for being stupid,” Linthicum wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post.
According to Linthicum, she was fired for “exercising my First Amendment right to free speech.”
“I am a proud supporter of this great Country, the First Amendment, the rule of law, and law enforcement,” Linthicum stated on the campaign page.
Related Story: Nurse Posts on Facebook Stephon Clark Deserved to Die, Fired by Kaiser Permanente
She called her notoriety in the news a “misconception.”
“I assure you, and for those that know me, I am not a hateful or discriminatory person. As a person of faith, and a nurse, I love all people and treat everyone equally,” she said.
Related Story: Stephon Clark Was Shot in the Back: Autopsy
Results from a private autopsy released over the weekend revealed that Clark was struck with eight bullets, six of which went in his back. Seven of the bullets struck the backside of Clark’s body, said forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu. According to Omalu, any of those seven bullets could have been fatal.
“Meaning that, out of all the seven, all he needed to have died was just one of the seven,” he said.
Omalu estimated it took Clark between three and 10 minutes to die.
Clark was not Lithicum’s only target. Activist Christina Arechiga first publicized Lithicum’s posts by sharing screenshots of them.
According to Arechiga, two other comments of Linthicum’s included: “Can we protest the deaths of all the people shot by black people too” and “He’ll (sic) yeah!!! Build that wall Mr. President!! #prototypeshopping.”
Linthicum’s campaign is titled “RN Fired for exercising 1st AMD.” At the time of this publication it has raised $24,450 close to its $25,000 goal.
Meanwhile, a competing GoFundMe account was set up by an anonymous user called “Faith Linthicum Fired -Deserved It.” This campaign also seeks $25,000 but the proceeds will go to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). At this time it is at just under $4,000. The campaign stated:
“Please consider donating to a charity like the SPLC who fights hate instead of spreading it. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with this lady treating anyone because of her beliefs. If she doesn’t like the color of your skin, or anything else about you, will she let you die because you deserve it She’s already raised her donation level from $3500 to $25,000 because of the coverage from FOX News. Please help stop spreading the hate!”
Kaiser Permanente (No. 2 on the Fair360, formerly DiversityInc 2017 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list) said in a statement that it “does not tolerate hate or discrimination and has a long history of embracing diversity and inclusion it remains a place where we welcome everyone.
“We want to emphasize that the comments expressed by this employee, who is no longer with the organization, do not in any way reflect Kaiser Permanente’s views or actions.
“We are very much a part of the wonderful and rich diversity of the communities we serve and feel a deep responsibility to them.
“We are deeply saddened by the events associated with Stephon Clark’s death, and will continue to do our part to make sure the community is healthy, safe and inclusive.”
Related Story: You Can Be Fired for Being a Neo-Nazi
Linthicum is hardly the only person to make headlines for things she posted online. Just this week a Defense Department employee lost his job over offensive comments and photos he shared on Facebook pertaining to former President Barack Obama. In March a middle school teacher in Florida was fired after it was discovered that she doubled as a white supremacist on a podcast. And last year a Yale professor was fired after hateful reviews she left on Yelp came to light.
