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that is at Pete Calender and that's spelled ka l
I n E R. I do have some messages regarding
last hour. We just spoke with Kevin Canty. He is
the former chief deputy. I always got to make sure I
don't say deputy chief, because that's it. Those are different agencies.
Chief deputy for the Mecklamberg County Sheriff, Gary McFadden or
as I call him, Gary not my fault McFadden, the
hero victim of every tale. And you know, and I
told Kevin Canty this last hour and just when I
was walking him out to the door, I said, I
don't know the sheriff, So this is just what it
looks like to me from the outside. And I hear
McFadden do interviews, and I read his stuff, and I've
seen him in front of the County Commission. And then
I see the news stories about problems in the jail,
and I see people leaving and getting fired, and saw
the complaints during the sheriff's election two years ago. So
all I can do is look from the outside and
draw conclusions. Not that I am, you know, specifically bound
to or wed to any of these ideas initially, just
because I don't know the man. I've never met the man,
and all I can base it off of, just like
anybody else in Mecklamburg County that doesn't know him or
hasn't met him, doesn't have any kind of a, you know,
personal relationship with the guy. All we can do is
assess from the outside. And from the outside, it looks
like he is a raging, malignant, narcissistic sociopath. That's what
it looks like. And look, maybe there is a perfectly
reasonable explanation for that, namely, probably that he is that's
probably the character. I don't know what else I don't
know another conclusion I could come to. I've played the
audio clips. Look, he has appeared. I give it, and
I've always given the sheriff credit for going on Brett
Jensen's show. Brett does the show every weekday seven until
eight pm. Here Breaking with Brett Jensen, and he has
gone on Bret Jensen's show. He has taken phone calls
I have then, I think in almost after every appearance,
because I listen to the episode, I pull some sound
bites out of the episode, and every single time I
hear him, he does nothing to a leave my concerns
that he is in fact the things that I think
he is. In fact, every time he gets up there
and talks, he makes things worse for me. He makes
it worse. And so I can't imagine what it must
be like for a lot of the staff that still
work at the Sheriff's office that are trying just to
get to retirement. Right, They've put in twenty years or whatever,
and they're just trying to make it to retirement, and
so they're putting up with this toxic work environment, which
despite what the sheriff has said, because it's never his fault,
that's why I call him that sheriff not my fault, McFadden,
because every single thing that goes wrong at the sheriff's
office since he took over, it's never his fault. It's
six years later and he's still blaming past sheriffs for everything,
almost everything. So I don't I don't know how these
people that are still working they're putting up with this
stuff except fear right. They don't want to be They
don't want to get fired, they don't want to lose
their pension, they don't want to get blackballed. If they
do get fired, right, if McFadden kicks them out, then
does that mean they're going to have a hard time
going to another agency? I get it. And that's why
you know it's you know, God puts people. I think
Sheriff mcfatt I hadn't talked about this when he said
he was just like Jesus basically, I'm not kidding about
Hang on a second, I'm not kidding about that. People
think that, uh, let's see here, I haven't. Yeah here
it is. God sent me here for a reason. And
if I'm the sacrificial lamb to upset the word racism
in America, so be it. God gave up his only son.
There you go, he's like Jesus. So maybe God put
Kevin Canty at the Sheriff's office, because here's a guy
who's got the resume, right, he's got the experience, he's
got what seems to be and I've just met him
today for the first time. Seems to have the disposition
and the character. But also he's got the length of service.
He is sort of inoculated because he's already retired. He's
done his time, he's gotten his retirement, and so that's
not a threat for him any longer. And he knows
the way these things are supposed to be run. He
knows the way these agencies are supposed to operate. And
the thing that has also struck me and I keep
referring to it as maladministration instead of just mismanagement, although
truth be told, he's probably guilty of that as well.
The mismanagement by Sheriff Macfadden, I would submit rises to
the level of maladministration. And there's a reason why I
use that word. It's because if you go to the
where is it here the North Carolina General Statute, willful
conduct sorry, wilful misconduct or maladministration in office. That is
item number two in the list of causes for which
a sheriff may be removed from office by the judge
of the Superior Court. I'm not sure. I'm not sure
what more it takes inside the court system, inside the
district attorney's office. I'm not sure what else it takes.
I don't know what else you need to hear. I
don't know how many other people need to get fired.
I don't know how many more inmates need to die.
I don't know. All I can do is just keep
saying this is obviously not just a perception from the outside.
This is obviously something going on inside the sheriff's office.
Somebody who has the authority to do something needs to
start doing it. We heard and look whatever you think about,
you know, Donald Trump and the the attacks against Trump.
And Kevin Knty has an opinion on Donald Trump, and
Kevin Canty said, if I was ever in a position
like that, you know I would I would stop somebody, Democratic, Republican,
I would do better. Right, We all like to think
that we would do that same thing. He did that
like he held to his word on that, he held
to his principle on that, and that's not a small thing.
I don't believe the assertion, the allegation coming from I
can only believe is McFadden that that Kevin Canty said
about this entire plan so he could run for sheriff.
He doesn't strike me as that kind of a person.
His background as an undercover narc agent seems to also
belie that. But I don't know. But I said this
initially too. Even if that were true, which I at
this point do not believe that to be true. But
even if it were true, McFadden pursued him and McFadden
offered him the job two different jobs actually, And even
if somehow or another, Kevin Candy were able to manipulate
McFadden into doing this to hiring him on also, he
could get him out and he could take over. Even
if all that were case, it doesn't excuse McFadden. It
doesn't to me. They're unrelated. They are really, they are
unrelated issues. McFadden maladministration in office. It seems very very
clear to me. I think it's pretty clear to a
lot of people that are in the orbit of the
Mecklenburg County Sheriff's office. I think there are a lot
of people that know this and they're afraid. They're afraid
of the political repercussions. They're afraid of alienating certain voters,
they're afraid of whatever. But they're afraid. And I would
just say, there are a lot of people out here
that will back you. They will support you if you
do the right thing. I think a lot of people
in America are in Mecklenburg County and Charlotte. I think
a lot of people are yearning for somebody with the
intestinal fortitude and the principles to stand up and say
this is wrong, We're stopping it. For over a month now,
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video dot com, all right. A couple of messages here
regarding the Kevin Kanty conversation. Here's a message from the Hellyon,
who says great stuff here in this interview that sheriff
has got to go. And this is from Russ, who says,
I have now heard a few long form interviews with
Sheriff McFadden on Jensen's show and the one you just
wrapped up with Kevin Canty. Only one of those men
seems reasonable and connected to the truth. I'm assuming he's
talking about Canty being the reasonable one. Mark says Pete,
I'm pretty sure you're not going to see anything like
what you want to see happen in the Democrat run
city like Charlotte Well, I don't know. All I can
do is pointed out and hopefully encourage other people to
report what they have seen and what they've experienced. Otherwise
you end up with this, which is from an email
from Tony who says, come on, Pete, you don't know
Knty any better than the sheriff. Not true. How can
you believe him? We didn't learn any facts today, just
one man's opinion. It means nothing, means nothing, So Denial
ain't just a river in Egypt. As I said, I
have never spoken with nor met the sheriff. I have
now spoken with and met Kevin Knty, So I do
actually know Kevin Knty better than I know the sheriff
because spoiler, that was not my first conversation with him.
In order to line up the interview, we spoke before
and then during the breaks we speak, and we have
very long breaks here, and so I was I got
a lot. I got almost as much time off air
with Kevin as I had on air with him. So
I do know him, I think a little bit better
than the sheriff because the only thing I know of
the sheriff is what I've seen and what I have heard,
and is in interviews in public appearances, and none of
those have been impressive. None of those have led me
to any other conclusion than what I have drawn, And
Kevin Canty strikes me as a completely different type of
person than Gary McFadden. All Right, hey, real quick, if
you would like to get your product or service in
front of about ten thousand people multiple times a day,
send me an email at Pete at the Peteclendarshow dot
com and ask me about advertising. It's super affordable, it's
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best bang for your buck. Send me a message Pete
at Thepetecalnarshow dot com and I can show you how
it works. Run the numbers with you again. That's Pete
at the Petecalnarshow dot com. One of the other things
Kevin was talking about was the use of iPads at
the detentions at the jail. That apparently inmates get iPads.
Did you know this? I was unaware of that they
get iPads even after they've engaged in bad behavior. They
don't lose the iPads and so like when some of
the detention officers get assaulted, they are then accused by
McFadden of like doing something to lead to their own assault, like, well,
like what did you do to get shanked? Like that's
the response? What? Yeah? And then they don't lose their
iPad privileges, which I think is probably bad for morale,
probably why they don't have all of the you know,
the full staff. But as I understand it, Gary's got
the great idea. McFadden's got the great idea to swallow
up the what caberis County Juvenile Detention facility or something
and make them all Mecklenburg employee. Yes, because everybody wants
to come work for the guy who uses racial slurs
and treats his comstat meetings as public floggings. But anyway,
the use of technology not just in the prisons, but
also in the K twelve government schools, which I guess
is kind of the same thing. That's the no I
kid I kid schools. There was actually a big write
up in the New York Times how student phones and
social media are fueling fights in schools, very very lengthy
story and some of the highlights here they say, across
the United States, technology centered on cell phones in the
form of text messages, videos, and social media, has increasingly
fueled and sometimes intensified campus brawls, disrupting schools and derailing learning.
School fight videos then often spark news cycles of student cyberbullying,
verbal aggression, and violence. I am reminded of the criticism
of homeschooling. How is your kid going to get socialized
if they don't go to public schools? I don't know.
How are they not going to get shanked? Right? These
are life's lessons that we need to teach the children.
A New York Times review of more than four hundred
fight videos from schools in California, Georgia, Texas, and a
dozen other states, along with interviews with three dozen school leaders, teachers,
police officers, pupils, parents, and researchers, found a pattern of
middle and high school students exploiting phones and social media
to arrange, provoke, capture, and spread footage of brutal beatings
among their peace years. In several cases, students later died
from the injuries. Technology has increasingly fostered and amplified every
stage of this aggression. The arguments often begin with student
cyber bullying, even perceived online disrespect among friends right, you're
in a group chat and you use the wrong emoji,
or you say something that's misinterpreted, which is very easy
to do because like today's kids they speak in like
single letters. It's very weird, like we are reverting back
to hieroglyphics. So this then will prompt in person squabbles
during school, and then classmates start filming and that puts
pressure on the students that are quarreling. The squabbling students,
That puts pressure on them to duke it out. Students
then share the videos, they comment on the videos. That then,
of course further humiliates the victims, you know, the ones
who lost or the ones who didn't you know, show
out correctly or whatever the slang is, and that then
triggers more fights. In some cases, the violent cycle has
overwhelmed schools. Some districts now face lawsuits for negligence from parents,
and other schools are seeing an exodus of teachers. No,
I thought that's about pay only. Wait, what are you
saying that working conditions might be a factor in whether
or not somebody wants to stay on as a teacher.
That would wow, that would be amazing to learn if
that's true. If that is true. Man, that adds a
whole different dynamic to the teacher retention argument, right, because
I've been reliably informed that it is simply a matter
of Dallas, show me the money, and that's it. Now.
Of course, not working conditions is a huge part of it,
you know, discipline, just like this general heading of discipline
that if you've got teachers that are going into brawl
zones every single day, that's not why they wanted to
become a teacher. Dozens of districts have sued social media firms,
saying that the platforms are addictive. They've got features there
that cause compulsive student use that disrupts learning and burdens
the school resources. Yeah, here's the thing, even if even
if the lawsuit has merit, even if you prove this
to be the case, and even if the schools win
the lawsuits, what do you get money for? What what
are you going to do with that? Pay teachers more money? Obviously,
that's the answer to everything. No, I kid, No, we
would put in programs and counselors, maybe maybe a school
resource officer maybe depending on the jurisdiction and whether or
not they hate police officers. But like we'll we'll just
throw more money at them. We'll win these lawsuits. We'll
get Facebook to give us a couple million dollars per school,
and then you know, we'll we'll set up some violence
interruption program or something teach kids Think again. Remember that campaign?
Whatever happened to that campaign? That was the big campaign. Huge,
It was massive, big campaign in the Charlotte area Think Again,
which was designed to tell people don't commit gun crimes.
I think, especially if you are if you're a convicted
felon or something. I know you're thinking about committing a
gun crime. But think again. I don't know if they
measured that success like that was what my big question
on the campaign was about how are you tracking success?
So I guess it was a success because we never
heard anything else about it. Anyway. Students have used social
networks to plan and incite school violence since the two thousands.
Over the past decade, higher quality phone cameras and new
social media features like Instagram, Live and reels, that's the
I think those are the Facebook ones, right, Reels is Facebook.
I think these have helped spur teenagers to mass produce
live stream and share videos, including their fight clips. In fact,
there are dedicated fight video accounts that have popped up
on Instagram and TikTok, and they used names or initials
of high schools and middle schools. During the pandemic, many
students became more reliant on messaging and social apps and
less comfortable with real life interactions. See this is what
I mean when I say what's on the other side
of the ledger? When we are doing an accounting of
the COVID response, This goes on the other side of
the ledger, folks, unintended consequences, right ramifications of the decisions.
You didn't get everything right in the response. It is
imperative that we haven't accounting for what we got wrong.
And by we, I mean political leaders that made these
decisions and then mandated them on us. School closures for
this kind of thing should never be entertained ever again.
I have not seen my good friend raise farewell speech.
Roy Cooper gave his farewell speech. I think he started
it at like eleven thirty, so I did not have
time to watch it. But I do intend to watch it,
so you don't have to. You're welcome. So we'll cover
that tomorrow because I didn't have time to do it obviously,
before the program started. We were getting ready for the
interview with Kevin Canty, so didn't have time to watch
it as it was occurring. Here's a message from Mama tutored.
My husband's sister was a teacher and just left the
profession last year. When we asked her why she was
a teacher for over twenty years. When we asked her
why she left, she said her number one reason students
with cell phones. It was impossible to enforce. Students refused
to comply. Parent interference kept them in the classrooms and
grades went down because of it, which affected her performance reviews.
She could put up with a lot of things over
the year, but this has been the worst, causing her
to leave altogether. That is not the first time I
have heard that similar experience. New York Times with this
big write up talking about the pandemic but also the
technology that during the pandemic, kids became detached, They relied
on social media more, they were less comfortable with real
life interactions, principles and teachers said. Some students also developed
difficulties controlling their emotions, a mental health issue that psychologists
call emotional dysregulation, or as I call it, acting like
a jerk. In twenty twenty one, as many districts reopened
for in person learning, some schools saw increases in student fights, aggression,
and cyber bullying. Educators and police social media say that
social media influencers and TV newscasts often broadcast school fight videos,
distressing students and causing further chaos. This is another part
of the problem. And I recognize that as a radio guy,
I don't have to make this decision. I don't have
to worry about putting up a video image to tell
the story about the school fight. But I can tell
you that I don't share those videos. When I see
them on social media, I try to scroll right past them.
I try not to watch them. I don't want them
to get any kind of engagement data from me on
those types of videos, and it seems like that's all
I'm getting. And you know, now, the companies are like,
we totally take this stuff down. We don't allow that
crap on our platforms, and of course we all know
that's not true. It's on the platforms. Chris Heggerty, the
school board chair at the Wake County Public School System
in Carrie, North Carolina, said in November twenty twenty three,
said students recording a fight in a high school gym
blocked administrators from intervening. Two boys were stabbed, one aged fifteen, died.
A video of that brawl was posted on Twitter. Several
months later, it got six hundred and sixty thousand views.
In April, they filed Wake County filed a lawsuit accusing Instagram, TikTok,
and other platforms of negligence and interfering with school operations.
TikTok said that it forbids the promotion of violence and
proactively removes content showing violent activities, as well as anything
equating jijinping to Winnie the Pooh. Snapchat said it prohibits
graphic violence and proactively removes accounts that post violent content,
including Winnie the Pooh means Meta, which no, I'm kidding,
that's Snapchat. They're not owned by China. Meta owned by Zuckerberg,
which owns Instagram. Said the platform does not allow bullying,
and removed content depicting physical bullying. They took down six
school fight accounts last month after they were flagged by
The New York Times for this story, So they look
they're totally on it. I don't know what you guys,
are worried about. Jonathan says, Lincoln County is about to
implement a cell phone ban at public schools, and I'm
all for Look, that's one of the ways you could
go here. You could ban the cell phones in the schools.
Another way to go mandatory boxing classes. Right, if these
kids are going to be fighting all the time, we
might as well teach them all how to fight and
how to defend themselves. I think it's only fair. All right,
that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much
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