Well, well, well … courtesy of Connie Chastain, no less …
“Vulneratus Non Victus”
On Thursday, May 9th, I was on my way back from the Stonewall Jackson Shrine at Guinea Station when I received a message from Va Flagger and friend, TriPp Lewis. He stated that Rob Walker, the VCU student who had been following the Va Flaggers for the past 6 months and filming our efforts for a documentary, had just called him to report that he had thwarted an attempted vandalism at the Jefferson Davis Statue on Monument Ave., on his way home from his final exam at VCU.
Shortly thereafter, I was phoned into a three way call, and Rob repeated the description of his story. As you can imagine, we were taken in by his dramatic and breathless account of the events. He even sent us these photos of the taser/club that was used at the scene.
At the end of the phone call, I asked Rob for permission to post the account, and he gave me permission to do so.
My intention in sharing the post was twofold: 1) I wanted Rob to get recognition for his efforts…and 2) I hoped it would serve as a deterrent for others who might attempt the same. As you might know, our monuments have been the subject of several attacks over the past months.
Our first indications that there may be a problem came in the form of an email from Navy Personnel who had seen the report and questioned Mr. Walker’s claim of Military Service on the USS Cole. At this point, we had no reason to doubt Mr. Walker, and simply asked him to provide the necessary proof to the gentlemen who had made the request. When Mr. Walker was not forthcoming with documents that could prove his service, we felt that while we considered it a private matter, it did create some doubt in our minds as to whether he was being truthful.
At this point, we decided we needed to further investigate the claims he had made regarding the incident at the monument, but it was Saturday…I was out of town for my son’s college graduation from Liberty University, and our Flaggers were all very busy, attending no less than three Confederate events in the Richmond area that day.
Sunday was Mother’s Day, so Sunday evening was the first chance we had to meet and we began researching his claims. We could find no mention of the event on the Richmond Police Department’s incident report and contacted Mr. Walker to question this. He insisted that he WAS telling the truth and promised to produce the police report on the next day, Monday, May 13th.
At noon Monday, we contacted Mr. Walker again, and he told us that they would not give him the report over the phone and that he would not be able to pick it up in person as he was out of town for the summer.
Assuming by now that we had been royally duped, we decided to make absolutely sure of the facts before we made any further statements. At 8:45 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, May 14th,I went to the Richmond Police Headquarters at 200 N. Grace Street and inquired as to whether there were any incidents reported at the monument location, during the time frame Mr. Walker had told us it happened. RPD officials searched and found no record of any report filed.
As I put pen to hand, we still have no idea why Mr. Walker went to such lengths to create such an elaborate story, or what his intentions were. He will still not admit that the account was false and we are left with the task of cleaning up the mess he has created with his fabrication and (apparent) outright lies.
I cannot properly express my sincere apologies for having released this story without first getting police corroboration. I honestly can say that I never imagined anyone would go to all the trouble of fabricating such a tale, and am sad to have learned another hard lesson in having to question everyone’s motives, and trusting no one.
We are officially retracting our statements in the release of May 10th, and respectfully request that if you forwarded that email, that you do the same with this one so that we might reach everyone who received the false report.
I hope and pray that you will not consider this misplaced trust a reflection on any of the men and women who make up the Va Flaggers. Although the Anti-Confederate Bloggers (affectionately referred to as “Floggers”) are attempting to suggest otherwise, Mr. Walker was not a Va Flagger. He had chosen us as the subject of his documentary work and we had allowed him the freedom to travel with us and film our activities. Up until the evening of May 10th, we never had any reason to believe that he was anything other than honest with us, and are still shocked at this turn of events.
As of today, we are severing all ties with Mr. Walker, as we have no desire to be even associated with anyone who does not know the value of honesty and truth, something that we work hard every day to promote, in our defense of the Confederate Soldier.
This revelation, and the personal attacks which have ensued, were a punch in the gut to me, and it is obvious that our enemies intend to attempt to use the incident to continue their quest to silence us and squelch the Flagging movement… a movement that, despite their best efforts, has taken a foothold among Southerners who are fed up with the constant attacks on our heritage, and is growing in numbers and support every day. Please know, that while we take away a valuable lesson in this, it will in no way deter us from continuing the work that we have begun… protecting the honor of the Confederate Soldier and the flags under which he fought and died…and defending the heritage.
Finally, I can’t end this narrative without thanking the Anti-Confederate “Floggers” referred to earlier. Although their motive in covering this incident on their blogs was obviously to cast negative attention on the Virginia Flaggers, which is their habit and history, their posting about it has nevertheless helped to bring awareness of the incident to a wider audience, which will now also be aware of this clarification.
Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers
Why, thank you, Susan Hathaway.
No need to reflect upon anyone’s motive, Ms. Hathaway. As for casting negative attention upon the Virginia Flaggers and yourself, well, you did just fine, assisted by your sidekick Connie Chastain … and TriPp[ed up] Lewis, who led you into this mess in the first place.
I wonder what you’ll do about that film Mr. Walker produced. The damage control continues.
Crossroads 
I love the backtracking from the “God brought him [Walker] to us” nonsense to he isn’t really a Va. Flagger. This is pretty much what I thought happened in all of this. The problem is not simply that Hathaway was too trusting, but that she was reckless in embracing a story that, on the face of it, needed some kind of corroboration. After all, she wants us to believe that he was an outsider who just happened to find their cause as worthy of a documentary.
I wonder what she thinks of the hand of God now.
Well, it had to be the “hand of God” because she first learned about it on her way home from a visit to the “shrine”..
I suspect Susan Hathaway feels a lot like the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs right now.
As somebody who was there (and did NOT leave at the 10:00 mark in the third), I feel their pain. And there’s another team in the Eastern Conference which lost a first round series but which will definitely be back in the mix next year. 🙂
Some day that Hand with smite you to the ground along with your evil cohorts, levin, myers and hall. You so called professors are spending more time on this little incident than you are on the IRS Tea Party scandal, the embassy, and a thousand other cuts. Shame on you
Nice to hear from you. I needed the laugh.
That is hilarious. Despite what Hathaway said, I have no doubt that my initial posting is what tipped her off. As far as I am concerned it is my initiative that will ultimately help to restore what little honor the Flaggers have left. 🙂
And we will hold you accountable for that.
Damn. I always get left out of the smites.
and Who is we Simpson? A handful of hypocrite haters. Of course why didn’t i see that, your we is scared to death of The flaggers and their we. Present-ism historians have every reason to be afraid what will become of their tax payer grants and promotional income if race baiting ever dies it’s common sense and logical death.
You are an endless source of entertainment.
https://cwcrossroads.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/when-i-hear-from-josephine-southern-bass/
Of course, you might want to post under your real name. It looks funny when you denounce others for lacking courage that you seem so afraid to identify yourself. How’s retirement from the real estate business doing for you? Are these rants your way of passing your time? Nothing else interest you?
Say hello to Josephine, folks.
She’s been discussed before.
https://cwcrossroads.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/what-is-it-with-some-people/
The comments brought out some more … interesting … people.
Tell you what, Josephine. Why don’t you discuss this with Rob Walker? He can be a very creative storyteller.
I can assure you that the screecher creature will remember to name you in the series of rants which I believe will be forthcoming. I think Hathaway’s smarter than that, and she’ll leave the dirty work to someone who likes to roll in the mud.
That said, I never though Hathaway was stupid enough to admit that very fact. But I appreciate her decision to be explicit about the link between the Flaggers and Connie Chastain. Talk about a target-rich environment …
Liberty University? God, Stars and Bars, and the Confederacy. One of the major problems with Justice Department is the amount of Liberty lawyers that were hired during GWB’s time. Oh well, soap opera over and W. C. Fields was right.
A couple of more things. She says “our monuments.” I am curious who this “our” might be. If it happened to the Arthur Ashe monument, would she be in an uproar? And “we have no desire to be even associated with anyone who does not know the value of honesty and truth.” Evidently they don’t mind be associated with the delusional if she really believes this.
I think that this letter was the most one could expect from Ms. Hathaway, especially with Ms. Chastain advising her. It lacks Chastain’s pure vitriol, but it can’t quite let go of the chance to take a few parting shots. But she did thank us, and I appreciate that.
My guess is that the screecher creature has only just started. Unfortunately for her, now that we’ve come to this spot, I don’t care to feed her need for attention. Those who want to see her hysteria know where to find it.
I can imagine the deceased Union patriot Elizabeth Van Lew of Richmond, VA, there in her grave, laughing at it all…
Mr. Walker is out of town for the summer…convenient!
Apparently the Richmond police tracked him down.
Its a “Flagging movement”? Quite an admission.
Susan and I do not have the best relationship. I found on several of her FB pages self proclaimed racists. People who hated blacks. When I confronted her she denied it. I then provided the proof and she then started a discussion about black confederates and slaves and how they were treated good.
When I again confronted her she in her typical snide way started acting as the true agenda driven person she is. Hate not Heritage.
Now whil I have supported her on the flags issue and attempted to mend fences, she knows that I know and have evidence of what she allows to go unspoken againist.
When challenged, she will often strike back emotionally, with name calling, character assassinations and discrediting anyone that disagrees with her because her feelings and self esteem are hurt when someone tries to prove that hedr opinion is faulty. She often think’s that those who challenge her ideas are attacking her personally and become combative. I think she would much rather discuss topics with like minded people who validate her opinions, like other revisionist and myth makers rather than those who would challenge her with the evidence and facts.
You make her sound like Connie Chastain. I think she’s smarter than Chastain. Thus the apology letter. Chastain could never have brought herself to have written that letter, and I bet she wants to draw more attention to his whole matter, which would be terribly counterproductive for the Confederate Hysteria Movement. But that’s not my problem, and I see no need to engage her foolishness at this time.
The fact is that two bloggers drove this investigation, and they were right that this was a fabricated incident. Now that we know that, courtesy of the Richmond Police Department (and its conversation with Walker), we can move on to other topics.