Last night, St. Louis Post-Dispatch crime reporter Christine Byers managed to rise above the din of the protests in Ferguson, Mo., with a tweet claiming that, according to police sources, more than a dozen witnesses had corroborated the police’s version of events in the Michael Brown shooting. That tweet was eventually retweeted more than 3,000 times.
Today, news spread that Byers had been placed on leave from the newspaper for her tweet.
https://twitter.com/MikeGraySC/status/501823595694145538
https://twitter.com/krf7/status/501823142223155200
@ChristineDByers @andersoncooper Huh? So you WEREN'T placed on leave because of the tweets? You're not making any sense.
— Kenneth M. Walsh (@kenneth212) August 19, 2014
However, it turns out that Byers was already on leave from the paper under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which she acknowledged in a subsequent tweet.
On FMLA from paper. Earlier tweets did not meet standards for publication.
— Christine Byers (@ChristineDByers) August 19, 2014
Post-Dispatch editor Gilbert Bailon issued the following statement to TheBlaze:
Christine Byers is a police reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who has been on FMLA leave since March. She is not involved in the Ferguson coverage while she is on leave. Her tweets are personal.
She has tweeted today in regards to her tweet Monday: “On FMLA from paper. Earlier tweets did not meet standards for publication.”
https://twitter.com/passantino/status/501811516857794560
To clarify, it's not clear if reporter was placed on leave after her tweets or if she was already on leave and tweeting
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) August 19, 2014
From her tweet, it sounds like she was already on leave and tweeting.
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) August 19, 2014
https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/501816725407805441
Honestly, @ChristineDByers should be fired. If you *really* have "a dozen witnesses" corroborating something, that meets standards for pub.
— Jeff Fecke (@jkfecke) August 19, 2014
Join the conversation as a VIP Member