John Barnett had worked for Boeing for 32 years, until his retirement in 2017.
In the days before his death, he had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company.
Boeing said it was saddened to hear of Mr Barnett’s passing. The Charleston County coroner confirmed his death to the BBC on Monday.
It said the 62-year-old had died from a “self-inflicted” wound on 9 March and police were investigating.
America is a truly sick society
The timing is very convenient… for Boeing.
Weird, but I read this article and before it said specifically that he died from a gunshot wound. Looks like it’s been updated (or redacted) to leave that bit out. Originally it said he died from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
So Boeing executives murdered a whistleblower. huh.
Being in Quality Control myself, I’ve always felt pressure from higher ups around some of our bigger findings. Cool to know if I ever find something too big they’ll just straight up murder me.
Something strange like that happened after that Sri Lankan family was murdered in Ontario. Was referred to as a mass shooting until no, wait, was a knife.
Sometimes reporters get details of the story wrong. I don’t know what’s so strange about that.
Bit of a lack of professionalism there.
Crime journalists write what the cops say. Blame the source, not the messenger.
That’s…a bit of a lack pf professionalism too. Way too common now.
That is perfectly fine, but any corrections or changes should be noted and explained, not quietly changed.
I’ve thought about this way too much and if you seriously think you’re in danger, there’s a few things you can do. Obviously lots of security cameras with local and off-site backups. Then hidden cameras, whatever spy cameras you can find, with an SD card in each. Then you need to create a deadman switch. Something you must interact with at least daily or it automatically uploads all your videos and documents etc everywhere it can, and / or sends them to your lawyer or journalists if you think you can trust them. I err on the side of public release as well because as long as it’s in the public eye it will be subject to scrutiny. That’s also why I’d start establishing a social media presence. “HI I’m X, I blew the whistle on Y. There’s a hearing scheduled for Z and I would like to once again publicly state that I don’t have any current medical or mental health issues and I have no plans to ever take my own life. Anyway here’s how to make waffles” or whatever.
I’ve thought about this a lot too and I don’t even have a job where I need to worry about it. The best way is really to just stay in the public eye and be as transparent as legally possible. I considered just fucking live streaming most of my life on twitch if I needed too. Car cam, house cam, go pro on my person, etc.
A 24-hour live stream is brilliant.
I’d still do a hidden cam or two in your car and other places you’re likely to switch networks and lose your stream for a moment.
Why don’t news organizations address the elephant in the room? They can say there is no evidence of foul play but the circumstances warrant further investigation as his death is quite convenient for Bowing. I don’t see how that could be libelous.
They can be sued if they claim Boeing executives murdered a guy unless there are court records showing Boeing executives were convicted for murdering a guy. However, I guarantee you people like Trevor Noah and John Oliver will absolutely run with this bit if they get the chance.
“WhY iSN’t ThE MEdiA CoVEriNG tHe NeWs” people scream in the comments of a news feed that alerted them to this exact issue.
That’s simply not true. Defamation/libel against a public company requires “actual malice”, which essentially means that the news outlet would have to have evidence that what they’re saying is not true.
Fox was going to lose to Dominion because they 100% knew they were lying about the company, and there were records proving it. It’s not actually common at all for cases regarding defamation against public figures or corporations to go anywhere.
You bringing up the Fox News counter-example and claiming it was a one off is kind of self-awarewolf.
I’m bringing it up because it was a remarkably rare thing that recently happened.
The reason Fox lies 50 times a minute is because defamation is incredibly difficult to prove.
did you even read the comment you’re responding to?
Not only did I read it but I answered the question.
You absolutely did not. The question was not: “Why don’t news organizations claim Boeing execs murdered a guy…?” The commenter was clearly aware of the problem of libel, which you completely ignored. They asked why news orgs aren’t discussing the fact that the death comes at a suspiciously convenient time - because they aren’t. This is not the same as claiming that he was murdered by Boeing.
He claimed it shouldn’t be libelous and I explained that it would be libelous. You’re implying that journalists are somehow dancing around the issue, which is silly because we’re all pretty well informed that the whistleblower was probably murdered.
it’s not libelous to discuss the elephant in the room. you did not explain anything. you just disregarded the question with your assumption.
If you say a person or entity with a public image did something really bad that they haven’t been strictly proven to have done, with exceptions for things such as parody, then that is defamation. So, yes, it can be libelous to talk about the fucking elephant.
Because news organizations no longer do any work investigating, only propagandizing for the sweet greenback$. 💰
Last week, he gave a formal deposition in which he was questioned by Boeing’s lawyers, before being cross-examined by his own counsel.
He had been due to undergo further questioning on Saturday. When he did not appear, enquiries were made at his hotel.
He was subsequently found dead in his truck in the hotel car park.
Shades of Karen Silkwood right here. :(
Michael Hastings as well
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So, the guy was expected to appear in court for thw second round of questioning and when he didn’t show up was found dead in his truck in the underground car park of the hotel. Doesn’t sound like someone that wanted to end it. Maybe I’m wrong but I wouldn’t book a room to go to court and then on a whim decide to end it.
They should investigate the coroner asap.
Most people that kill themselves do so on a whim. Its probably not the case, but its not impossible. I’m guessing either the coroner is corrupt, or they have actual evidence it was a suicide. If it was a murder, then I doubt Boeing would do it without assurance it couldn’t be traced back to them. So regardless of what actually happened, the only official story there will ever be is that it was a suicide. That is, unless Boeing is as reckless about murder as they are about building planes.
Most people that kill themselves do so on a whim.
[Citation required]
I would argue that most likely than not there is a trail of depression and/or mental illness that leads up to the actual act being done.
Absolutely, I don’t mean there is no warning whatsoever. There is almost always a history of depression, but that history is not always visible to loved ones, let alone the public. I just mean they are likely not specifically planning to commit suicide until soon before they do it, which at least in my experience is true
Yeah it could emerge apparently at random for unsuspecting familiars, but this guy was about to do something that was important for him, on which he worked for years according to the article. Sounds sus to me.
Most people who commit suicide actually plan to do it. There is plenty of warning beforehand.
Sounds like Jeffrey Epsteins coroner.
The day before his testimony. He was 100% assassinated. Too bad Boeing is such a major company. This would have FBI agents crawling all over it if it wasn’t a company that can afford to buy every politician in DC.
They could still be crawling over it, hopefully
Yeah I guess they have no reason to divulge active investigations to the public, but yeah, obviously the optics on this are super fucked.
Idk the DOJ opened a criminal investigation against them but that could just be theater. 100% this man was murdered though dude, no doubt about it. When I read that whole “our thoughts are with his friends and family” I got a chill man that’s so evil.
If this was a Trump administration with Sessions or Barr, nothing would be done. I actually do think Garland’s DOJ cares about such corruption, so I’m hopeful this will at least be looked into.
We are in the era of corporate aristocracy. They are considered people, have vast wealth to manipulate and avoid the law, and when they ARE caught acting horrifically, the government just sighs and says "Well we can’t stop having products so I guess it really was suicide lol’
And us normal peasants just have to suck it up.
Time to storm the fucking castle.
To be fair, they would’ve said that regardless. Its standard corporate speak.
True, but I get the point. Like it’s hard for those of us with souls to comprehend the sheer evil it takes to murder or coerce-to-murder someone’s father/husband/brother/friend, and then tell them through your teeth “That’s so unfortunate this thing happened to them. Thoughts and prayers.”
100% they killed him
Was the self inflicted wound two 9mm rounds to the back of the head?
Accidentally brutally stabbed himself in the chest whilst shaving
Happens to the best of us.
Just two? Rookie numbers.
Did he fly on a Boeing plane?
If it’s Boeing, I’m NOT going.
“Local officials confirmed Mr. Barnett’s suicide. When asked how Mr. Barnett managed to fire the sniper shot through his bedroom window, the officer first on the scene only replied, “Trust me bro.”, while stuffing a large stack of 100 dollars bills back down the front of his pants.”
(Interwebz pedant voice) actually there are several scenarios possible where one could conceivably kill themselves with a sniper rifle 100 yards away . . . People who don’t know about this are just so credulous, but weapons science has known for a long time that JFK actually killed himself . . .
[2 week later] Former lead detective found dead in in what investigators have ruled a suicide. He apparently hung himself after a fit of rage where his house appeared to have kicked in his own front door, tore the hard drive out of his security camera hub, punched himself in the face a number of times, then tied the rope to a bannister and strung himself up.
…what the fuck?
First whistleblower “suicide”?
The second I see someone’s name next to whistleblower, I know they’re on borrowed time, some manage to be left alone, but most don’t, that’s why we need to keep these people’s names and causes alive, we can’t let corporations get away with silencing a whistleblower, we must amplify it.
