The 41-year-old who claimed responsibility for the on-air slayings of a Virginia TV reporter and her cameraman, had a track record of claiming racism in the workplace.
California native Vester Lee Flanagan II, who went by Bryce Williams when reporting the news on WDBJ7, sued a North Florida station in 2000 claiming one of his bosses called him a 'monkey,' among other offenses.
Before he killed Alison Parker and Adam Ward on Wednesday, Flanagan accused Parker of being racist as the horrific crime played out in real time.
'Alison made racist comments,' he insisted on Twitter, as police pursued him down a Virginia highway.
Vester Lee Flanagan, the 41-year-old suspect in the on-air slayings of a Virginia TV reporter and her cameraman, had a track record of claiming racism in the workplace
'Alison made racist comments,' he insisted on Twitter, as police pursued him down a Virginia highway
'They hired her after that???'
Jeffrey Marks, WDBJ's president and general manager, said Flanagan had to be escorted by police out of the station when he was fired. Marks described him as 'an unhappy man' and 'difficult to work with,' always 'looking out for people to say things he could take offense to.'
'Eventually after many incidents of his anger ... we dismissed him. He did not take that well,' Marks explained.
One of the tweets he sent after allegedly shooting Parker and Ward appeared to suggest the cameraman was among the people who disliked working alongside Flanagan.
'Adam went to HR on me after working with me one time!' wrote Flanagan.
Flanagan, who was a multimedia reporter for the station, left WDBJ at their behest.
Prior to Flanagan's two years reporting at WDBJ, the California native had worked at several news stations across the country.
![According to Fox, the president and general manager at WDBJ said '[Vester] was a difficult person for a lot of people to work with'](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_trl0qkdOMisJPCNdPHEKWl6pzVt9aQWzLJgTmFdb4zv5v_Ck-gPzk2Kpgews6JQnyA172SoKBmYXxKxyrfr5EBZ1D7Z5qZwxhgdp8kVWNbWHLjM6Dd6lWljN_VgF9UBXsV7lJN_l7Bp2smnimDxrFLjGSh3aCZujOj5H0uSUzF5WEAiT8=s0-d)
According to Fox, the president and general manager at WDBJ said '[Vester] was a difficult person for a lot of people to work with'
Jeffrey Marks, WDBJ's president and general manager, said Flanagan had to be escorted by police out of the station when he was fired. Marks described him as 'an unhappy man' and 'difficult to work with,' always 'looking out for people to say things he could take offense to'
According to his LinkedIn page, Flanagan had stints at WTWC in Florida; WTOC in Savannah, Georgia; WNCT in Greenville, North Carolina; KMID in Midland-Odessa, Texas; and KPIX in San Francisco.
Newsweek reports that Flanagan filed a discrimination lawsuit against WTWC-TV in 2000, which alleged that a producer at the station called him a 'monkey.'
Flanagan also alleged in the suit that an 'official' at the station joked that a black murder suspect with gold and green grills had 'collared greens' stuck in his teeth, reports TMZ.
He also claims in the suit that he heard a manager tell another black employee to 'stop talking ebonics.'
Flanagan also claimed that an unnamed white supervisor at the station said black people were lazy because they did not take advantage of scholarships to attend college.
Posted just a week before: Fast forward to this past week and Flanagan appeared to reminisce fondly on his past. In dated-looking photo after photo posted to social media, the 41-year-old appeared to put his formerly admirable physique on display
Glory days: Flanagan tweeted and posted to Facebook dozens of photos of his younger days just days before the murders
In some of his photos, the San Francisco State graduate posed in what look like professional settings wearing a mesh shirt and leather pants with a cowboy hat. Others trade the studio look in for a home's balcony
In yet another of his personal photos, Flanagan appears to show off what looks like a Superman tattoo on his left bicep
The station generally denied the allegations of discrimination and said it had legitimate reasons for ending Flanagan's employment, including poor performance, misbehavior with regard to co-workers, refusal to follow directions, use of profanity and budgetary reasons.
The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum in 2001.
Fast forward to this past week and Flanagan appeared to reminisce fondly on his past. In dated-looking photo after photo posted to social media, the 41-year-old appeared to put his formerly admirable physique on display.
In one of the photos, the San Francisco State graduate poses in what looks like a professional setting wearing a mesh shirt and leather pants with a cowboy hat.
Others show him showing off his biceps and what appears to be a Superman tattoo on his left arm. In one, he's seen wearing little more than a gray thong.
With one of multiple sets of photos of himself as a kid, Flanagan appears to make a joke about his childhood in the Jehovah's Witness church
For reasons not entirely clear, Flanagan tweeted a veritable barrage of photos of himself as both a young adult and young school kid
'And, wasn't I a cute baby? ;-)' Flanagan tweeted with one set of photos
Reaching ever further back, apparently to his childhood in California, Flanagan recently posted photos of himself as a young 'model.'
'Headshot used for getting acting/modeling gigs way back when lol. And, wasn't I a cute baby? ;-)' he tweeted along with several photos as a young man and as a young child.
With one of multiple sets of photos of himself as a kid, Flanagan appears to make a joke about his childhood in the Jehovah's Witness church.
'Ooooh as a Jehovah's Witness I wasn't supposed 2b celebrating b-days but "mommy" was cool (most of the time) lol,' he wrote.
Also discovered on the professed killer's Facebook was the demo reel he used to land new reporter jobs.
Part of that video, which shows various TV reports Flanagan had done over the years, was a chilling segment in which he held a machine gun.
A chilling reporter demo reel that Flanagan posted to Facebook shows the professed killer wielding a deadly automatic weapon
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