Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to
this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon
to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you
want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream,
my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron,
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subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your
smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for
your support our Mecklenberg County Sheriff Gary not my fault McFadden.
He is at it again and he wants everybody to
know none of this stuff is his fault, which is
very on brand for not my fault McFadden. So several
developments over the last week that I've had, but I
just keep kind of pushing off because of the obvious
developments in the news cycle. Let me start with this.
I got screenshots the other day of an announcement that
McFadden sent out to all Mecklenberg County Sheriff's Office employees
and it says, today I wanted to give you an
advanced notice of a possible news story that will be
published by the Charlotte Observer within a couple of days,
the Charlotte Observer will publish a story that will possibly
contain comments and criticism from former Chief of Detention T. White.
Our PIO staff and I were notified of this several
days ago, and on Wednesday morning, I was interviewed by
The Charlotte Observer regarding the comments that were presented to me,
possibly made by Chief of Detention T. White. I am
only giving you this notice because we all have been
subject to these Mecklinberg County Sheriff's all employee emails and
news stories that sometimes shock us all. So I will
wait to see the entire interview published. But from what
was provided to me by the Charlotte Observer, it was
extremely disappointing and hard to believe for many obvious reasons.
So I will wait. He's always the victim or the hero,
remember Gary, not my fault. Macfadden, always the hero or
the victim, never the villain. So he's going to wait
for the article to be published before I make any
further comments to you as our staff. Personally, I am
fine and will continue to be fine and fearless and
faithful to this agency. Hero. So remember when storms come,
they bring rain that rain will water the seeds that
have been planted deeply into the soils of Meckleiberg County
Sheriff's Office by you as our staff. But if there's
an old sorry, but there is an old African proverb
to remember quote if there is no enemy within, the
enemy outside can do no harm, which I'm not actually
sure that's true. I mean, I know it's a proverb
in all but I if there is no enemy within
the outside could do no harm. I'm not like, if
your village is surrounded by a million troops and they
lay siege to your village. You may have no enemies
inside that village, but the enemy outside can definitely do
you some harm. So I'm not really sure that that
proverb anyway. Have a safe and amazing day, that's what
he says. I've seen no article by the Charlotte Observer
quoting one T. White, but he obviously has no problem
talking about personnel matters in an all staff email when
he wants to alert everybody that there's going to be
yet another news article or is I guess he would
probably call it a hit piece directed at him. But again,
I haven't seen any reporting. I've been waiting for it.
I haven't seen a report on any accusations from t White.
Now there is a story about his former business director,
Angelia Rigsby, who, if I recall correctly, spoke with Vince
Cokeley several months ago and talked about how she was fired,
And now she has filed a lawsuit against Gary. Not
my fault McFadden. A federal lawsuit filed on Friday, says
he created a toxic culture of retaliation and racism within
the sheriff's department. She worked at the sheriff's office for
just eight months before McFadden terminated her last November. We
reported on that at the time as well. For almost
a year, the sheriff has been hounded by criticism from
former employees. Two chief deputies who quit and his recently
retired chief of detention have accused him of classlessness, bullying,
and narcissism. Yeah, check and check. McFadden responded to those
claims in recent interviews with The Observer. He said that
all three were playing the victim. He has not said
whether he is running for reelection. By the way, I
suspect that this might be the article that McFadden was
worried about because it doesn't I don't believe it specifically
mentions t White, but it seems like maybe the observer
may have gotten win that this that this was coming,
that this lawsuit was going to get filed, and maybe
that's why they went to him to try to get
quotes from him before the lawsuit got filed, so they
would have them when the lawsuit dropped. Just a guess.
I don't know that to be true, but that's just
a guess because this article came out after his all
staff email. He has not said whether he is running
for reelection, but the Democrat primary in March already has
three candidates, former Chief Deputy Rodney Collins, CMPD Sergeant Ricky
Robbins and former jail officer Antoine Nance. In a June
twenty twenty four internal report, this goes to the nature
of the lawsuit the allegations now. Rigsby points out in
this internal report a pay disparity. She was warning that
there was a black woman in a managerial role at
the Sheriff's office who was making less money than three
supervisors who had less experience than she did and had
less responsibility and less tenure. They were at the Sheriff's
office for a fewer years. So you have this one
woman who's a black woman in this role, but then
you have three other, I guess, similarly situated supervisors who
are not as qualified, and they're making more money, she says,
and this is in the internal report. She said. If
this is not corrected, it could result in legal action
for the Sheriff's office. She told the then chief Deputy,
Kevin Canty, who we've had on this program, And she
told the human resources director Alexis Pearson that she was
concerned that the pay disparity may be racially biased and illegal.
McFadden is also black, and he denied Rigsby's request to
adjust the employee's pay. Now, I don't know the race
of these other supervisors. Rigsby has also claimed that McFadden
asked her to alter governmental records after The Charlotte Observer
filed the public records request for his travel expenses. So
the Observer reported on his trips around the country, along
with trips that other sheriffs in the Charlotte region took
as well. His then executive assistant, Shelby Jones, calls up
Riggsby about this record's request from the newspaper. Jones, the
executive assistant to not my fault McFadden. Jones said that
McFadden quote did not want all that, all the records
in question. He did not want all that to go out. Yeah,
it's a public records request. It's a Freedom of Information
Act request like it's public record. So, according to the lawsuit, McFadden,
through his assistant Jones, ordered Rigsby to change the records
and that's no bueno. That is not good. Riggsby refused
because she believed that the request was illegal. McFadden's request
to change the data. She believed that that would be
illegal and would implicate her in illegal conduct. She reported
that this request was also unethical. Rigsby discovered and exposed
that several employees were employed and being paid for services
not performed. So we're just handing out checks to people
that are these are no show jobs. So McFadden's been
giving people no show jobs too. That was part of
a fraud investigation in which the former business director was
alleged to have contracted with personal friends who did not
perform their contractual obligations to the department. No boyo. So
when I was a kid, my Grandpa died with Alzheimer's,
and before he died, my mom and my dad took
care of him as he got worse. Forty years ago,
there were no treatments and not much support for caregivers
and family. But things are different today because of the
work of so many people, including the Alzheimer's Association of
Western CA Carolina. It's a great organization with awesome people
with huge hearts. I've been a supporter for twenty five years.
This cause means a lot to me. I participate in
the annual Walk to end Alzheimer's and I'm leading a
Charlotte team again this year, and it's called once again
Pete's Pack. You can sign up and you can join
the team and walk with us. It's on October eighteenth,
that truest field. Sign up at alz dot org slash
walk and then you can search for my team name
Pete's Pack. There's also a link at thepetepod dot com.
There's also a link in the description of this podcast. Also,
I'll be am seeing the Gastonia Walk on October eleventh,
and so you can make a team and join that
one too, or make a donation and help me hit
my goal of five thousand dollars. If you do, I
really appreciate it. There are a bunch of other walks
all over the Carolinas. You can go to alz dot
org slash walk for all the dates and locations. We're
closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's. Can you help us
get there? Will you walk with me? For a different future,
for families, for more time, for treements. This is why
we walk. Beckelberg County Sheriff Gary not my fault. McFadden
has now issued a statement. It's actually a YouTube video.
It's almost twelve minutes long. I have not even had
a chance to watch all of this in its entirety.
I've been watching little chunks of it during the breaks
and such. The big takeaway is that he's not going
to play the victim, but he is the victim. That's
the message. I don't want to play victim, but I'm
the victim. I'm betrayed. I lost count. Maybe I'll try
to start counting again. How many times he says the
word betray or betrayed, betrayaled? He says it a lot.
He also makes up some other words, but like he
says betrayed, I feel betrayed. Everybody betrayed me. And then
he says that all of these executive staff officers who
have left him that are all black, that they should
have shown him loyalty because they wouldn't have otherwise gotten
a job at such a prestigious organization. Which, wow, that
is a thing to say. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2: This is Sheriff Gary mc fadden of the Meckenburg County
Sheriff's Office. For the past several weeks, months, and days,
I have been questioned years, repeatedly, years, Sheriff, why don't
you give a statement about what your ex employees, ex
executive have said? Each time I would tell that person
of those people, I can't buy law.
Speaker 1: But I can go at a graduation ceremony and just
use that as an opportunity to just trash the people
that we're filing these complaints against him. Yeah, that's what
he So he can do that, but he just can't.
I'm sorry, I cannot comment on personnel matters, and now
obviously a federal lawsuit against him.
Speaker 2: The law prohibits me from talking about personnel matters. This
past weekend, I was at an event and two people say,
Sheriff tell them how you really feel, tell them about
how you feel trade tell them what your family is
going through, and tell them how your wife feel betrayed
by the very people that you trusted and you actually
entrusted them with your wife for their personal matters and
personal well being and also personal growth. So after thinking
about that time and time again, I want to come
to you to try to give you some clarity on
what I feel and what has happened. So it's trying
to give this statement. We have to understand by law,
I cannot talk about personal matters, y know, But they
have the ability to talk about personal matters and they
have the ability to be the victim. And I'm not
going to play the role of the victim, but they
do have that luxury to talk about what they believe
and how they feel that they have been victims. And
my statement today is not about personal matters, but it's
about matters that our personal.
Speaker 3: To me.
Speaker 2: The first is how feel I feel betrayed betrayed. I
feel that my loyalty was betrayed, my trust in my
staff was betrayed, and most of all, the betrayal that
my wife felt when I told her who said what
and what was said and by whom. And I remember
that because one of the ex executive staff members had
weekly calls with her and they talked to help them
move along in their career. But imagine having dinner with
the same people with your wife presence. This was the
first time my wife ever came involved with my work
as a law enforcement officer for forty four years, and
so I allowed her to come inside to see what
we do. And so this is about my character, my reputation,
my integrity, my loyalty, but most of all, it's about
my legacy. And I have to tell you that I
still feel portrayed, and my family feels portrayed, but most
of all, my wife feel betrayed because she well knew
how much she has helped several of these people and
the conversation that she had with these people and recent
conversations that we had with these people. And the reason
that is so outstanding is because during the time before illness,
we still kept in touch with them and we allowed
certain people to come and visit her at the hospital.
But we all know that my ex executives or executive staff,
which should be the people that you can trust with
any conversation when you have an executive staff, you believe
that you can have these conversations, you can have these
tough conversations and you move on. That is not the
case here.
Speaker 1: No, from my.
Speaker 2: Executive staff, who should be my most trusted staff, is
the most multiple betrayal of my agency.
Speaker 1: Okay, I don't know what the word multiple means, but
that was another one. So he's up to ten mentions
of betray or betrayal. Ten and we're only three minutes
forty nine seconds into an eleven minute fifty second statement.
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better returns. Every even got to the worst part. Let
me get James on real quick. Hey, James, welcome to
the program.
Speaker 3: Hey, how you doing to day, good man?
Speaker 1: What's up?
Speaker 3: Well? Uh? What has he been in office now for
seven years? Yeah?
Speaker 1: He's coming.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay this We've been hearing this since year one
about I You know, every time he gets great a sized,
he gets up on his high horse and tells the
entire first the first words out of his mouth is
I'm the first black sheriff, and then everything goes downhill
about how everybody's picking on him.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, he's always the victim or the hero, never
the villain. All these people around him and his executive leadership,
they're all out to get him. They all betrayed him.
It's never his fault.
Speaker 3: Well, that's because that's because a very large part of
the people who were working there when he was started
have resigned and gone other places.
Speaker 1: True. True that, yeah, they won't, they won't work for
the guy.
Speaker 3: He had to close Jail North because he didn't have
the staff to run the place, and he couldn't nobody
would come to work for him. And I worked for
the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's office, and I've not personally known
the last four sheriffs, and they were leaders, all of them,
everybody from C. W. Kidd up to Irwin Carmichael. Gary
McFadden is not a leader. He does nothing except self
aggrandizement and then blames everybody when they don't fall down
and worship at his feet.
Speaker 1: I would say from the outside that appears to be
an accurate representation. That's what it looks like from my
vantage point as well. And I have no experience at
the Sheriff's office.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, you know my only the only thing I
can say about that man is he is a disgrace
to the office he holds.
Speaker 1: James, I appreciate the call, sir, Thank.
Speaker 3: You, thank you. All right, buddy, thank you letting me avam.
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, I understand. Let's get back to Gary's. By
the way, he's sitting on a couch at an unflattering
camera angle, reading off of a bunch of papers on
his crossed knee. So here he is now and de portret.
Speaker 2: Oh and you hear them saying words like narcissists and
godlike and all of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: What they should be saying is progressive, innovative, forward thinking.
Oh my God, always direct and always clear, highly motivated,
have hot expectations, demands accountability, but most of all caring, caring,
most of all caring. So imagine for the first time
people came to your home to eat. We have allowed
the sheriff's deputies to come inside our home to eat,
talk to my parents, talk to my in laws, and
held my grandchildren. But now to be portrayed by some
of these very people is unbelievable.
Speaker 1: The ultimate but most of all ultiple.
Speaker 2: I gave them grace, and they even have grace now
because of the laws that will not permit me to
talk about their personal time here, talked about their behavior here,
talked about their evaluations here, and talked about all the
things that we discuss.
Speaker 1: Hang on a second, you're giving them grace because you're
not allowed to trash them. That's not how grace works. Gary,
That's not great at all. That's you being restrained by
the law. Because if you didn't have the law restraining you,
I suspect you would have all sorts of things to say.
You have said all sorts of things to them in
the privacy of your super secret executive staff meetings. Right
You've attacked them and savaged them in front of their
coworkers and stuff. You belittle them and bully them. I mean,
that's according to how many one, two, three, four, what
do we have to now? Five? Are we had half
a dozen former executive staff people who have quit your
ranks because of you. It's you, dude, it's not everybody else.
This is a you thing. But he can't see it.
Speaker 2: He won't acknowledge that doing executive staff meetings, the meetings
that are held away from all other staff members, and
the executive staff meetings should have been sacred.
Speaker 1: So like when you were like using racial slurs against
your people, that's what you wanted to be sacred. That
do I have that right? The ultiple betrayal is what
you called it. I'm gonna start calling myself the multiple
radio host on WBT, I am the ultiple radio host.
It's a great title because it doesn't mean anything because
the word is made up. It's not a real word.
Speaker 2: Should have loyalty, should have honesty, but it wasn't. My
executive staff, most of all had betrayal.
Speaker 1: There's another one, And what was.
Speaker 2: Grace part of it? Because here's why I think grace
is part of it. They had grace to see one
of the most successful, outgoing progressive agencies here in North
Carolina and possibly in America. And this is why I
believe that a few of them seek employment here, not
knowing that it was this progressive, this outspoken, this direct
The sheriff holds people to accountability, and we asked to
be honest.
Speaker 1: So basically, you were lucky to see me work. He
feels betrayed because I let you see me work, and
I'm progressive and outspoken and I care. It was with
the utmost of caring. I dare say the ultiple of caring.
When he called people racial slurs. See, that's just proof
of how caring he is and why he wants all
this stuff secret, and I guess probably why he wanted
to keep the travel records secret and then tried to
get them doctored, because that's that's what caring people do.
That's what honesty is about changing your travel records under
a Freedom of Information Act request.
Speaker 2: But we did not get that. We simply got portrayals,
ahing and the grace which also allowed them time in
their difficulties and not knowing how difficult it is to
be the first and why we say the first, Well,
I don't know how difficult it is to be the
first of anything, but to be the first African American
law enforcement officer to also be portrayed by African American
executive staff members is also something that I would never
fathom happening.
Speaker 1: Wait a minute, So you thought that just because you
share a skin color, you should be able to abuse
them or maybe behave unethically and that they would cover
for you because they're black. Two. Wow, that is well,
that is a management style. I guess that. I that's
pretty astounding. By the way, I am up to now
fifteen fifteen uses of the word betray or betrayal fifteen
times in six and a half minutes, I think he
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time offer. We're about halfway a little bit more than
halfway through this video message from a personal message from
Sheriff Gary not my fault McFadden addressing staff departures. He
has so far said the word betray or betrayed fifteen times.
Let's see how many more he'll say it.
Speaker 2: Why? Because I gave them grace and I give them
opportunity that most of them would have never had or
would have never experienced by working for agency of this caliber.
Speaker 1: So, in other words, they're too they're not good enough
to work at a sheriff's office of this caliber. Like
what an overinflated sense this guy has of himself.
Speaker 2: Which all leaves mean to be baffled, because we all
know in the African American community, the whispers are this,
why does African Americans target African Americans when they're at
the top of leadership. Why don't any of these ex
executive staff members talked about their previous or previously employers
or their previous staff even here at the Mackenburg County
Sheriff's Office.
Speaker 1: Oh, I can answer that one is because you suck.
That's why you're a terrible leader and manager. That's why
they're saying these things. And the idea that you would
expect them to stick together because of your race is
an unbelievable admission to make as the top law enforcement officer.
It's unbelievable.
Speaker 2: And so that leads me to the whispers of our community.
Why now, Well, we all know it's election season, and
we all know that I'm very outspoken, and we all
know that the law is going to prohibit me to
talk about personnel matters. So if one person's opened the door,
it gives the advantage for other people to walk in
and say what they want to say, but they will
play the victim. I will not play the victim this
whole time. But here's what I want you to understand
that I understand in these days of trying to find
out why, I don't need to know why. I just
wish each and one of them good luck in wherever
they may work. Again. I just ask that they don't
be as deceiving and they do not betray the other
the employers as they portrayed me. And someone said with
Sheriff Macfatt, how do you go through this every day?
Yesterday a young man said, what books that you read
to stand all of this betrayal and all of this
criticism they think you are subjected to.
Speaker 1: I don't think people are asking this, And I said, I.
Speaker 2: Have very good friends, number one, and I have very
good sheriffs who have countlessly called me and say, stand strong,
stand tall. We know who you are. The people that
really know me, who really know me for over forty years,
know that my dedication to this community, my dedication to
the victims, and even the dedication to my staff, because
what we are listening to is the executive staff members,
and not the people in the hallways, not the people
in the pods, not the people that I talk to daily,
not the people of the chain of command. As they say,
do I support the little man absolutely, wh I support
the middleman absolutely? Do I support the executive staff absolutely?
When you are honest, you are forthcoming, you're clear, and
you're direct. Being on the executive level takes true leadership,
true honesty and tough skin. Why because you're going to
hear some things that you may not want to hear,
because I'm requiring you to have accountability for others. I
am not perfect, never ask to be perfect, and never
will be perfect. All I was and still ask for
is excellence. This is an agency of excellence and it
always will be because this is what I expect each
and every day. So if you want to work here,
bring excellence. If you want to work here, bring honesty.
If you want to work here, bring loyalty. If you
want to work here, bring respect. But when people say, Sheriff,
how do you do this? All the time, and you
go on each and every day. How do you run
an agency still be criticized and be betrayed by members
of your staff, your current staff, and even the staff
that have retired. I have a quote in one of
my officers and a quote that I always look at,
and it's about a gentleman who wrote about another gentleman
in nineteen forty and in that that letter said, great
spirits have always encountered violent opposition from the mediocre mind.
The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who
refuses to buy blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead
to express his opinion courageously and honestly. That is out Einstein.
This is what keeps me going every day, not to
dwell in the minds of the mediocre thinker, but to
dwell in the minds of a progressive thinker, a forward thinker,
an honest thinker who will not betray him for his staff.
I want to thank you for listening. This is my statement.
I put this to rest, and I move forward. Thank you.
Speaker 1: I don't know there's a federal loss that I don't
know if you're putting that to rest. Actually, Sheriff but
I guess he considers himself to be the great spirit
opposing being opposed by mediocre minds, and the final count
there was twenty times he mentioned betrayed or betrayal in
a twelve minute address. All right, that'll do it for
this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could
not do the show without your support and the support
of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if
you'd like, please support them too and tell them you
heard it here. You can also become a patron at
my Patreon page or go to dpetecalanarshow dot com. Again,
thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything
while I'm gone.