On Monday, Sebastian councilwoman Pamela Parris claimed that Facebook said her controversial post was a lie and “false information.”
The post, which showed her name as the author, called Sebastian residents “fat & obese” and our snowbirds “carpetbagger Yankees.”
“Remember that FAT carpet something post? FB found the lie,” Parris wrote.
“Thank you Facebook! For finding the facts on that post back in Dec. 16th. The one I didn’t write that appeared on my wall,” Parris added.
However, our staff could not find any of her posts flagged as “false” by independent fact-checkers. The checkers are usually checking content from known websites that are deemed fake news. Instead, Parris’ controversial rant was a post she made publicly without any links to another website.
Parris has denied writing the post, but then admitted to one media outlet that she did write it but didn’t mean to insult anyone. She later backtracked and told another media outlet that she was hacked, suggesting that Sebastian Daily and its editor hijacked Facebook.
Current timeline of Pamela Parris:
- She attacked Sebastian Daily and said it was publishing falsified information. She denied writing the post. Parris then lied about Hometown News reporter Alan Nelson stating that he instructed her to sue Sebastian Daily. It’s all on the video from the city council meeting. Nelson said he never instructed her to do anything, stating that Parris lied.
- When confronted by residents at a city council meeting about her Facebook post, she interrupted them and said, “it was falsified information” and “I never said those things.”
- A day later, Parris told WPTV Channel 5 that she did write the post on her Facebook account but didn’t mean to insult anyone.
- One day later, she told TCPalm that she did not write the post. Parris said she was hacked by the press and was checking with information-technology specialists. “I will find out,” she said. “I don’t know how it got there. I didn’t write it.” However, she never documented a “hack” with the police department but did post “Hacking should be a federal offense” on her Facebook page.
- Pamela Parris then blamed the press for her decision to vote and reinstate Robert Bedea to the Natural Resources Board. Bedea was arrested for hitting a police officer. “I wasn’t aware of Mr. Bedea’s violation due to negative energy I had to process and respond to regarding a press attack of words that never came from me,” she told a Sebastian resident via email.
- A local resident said Pamela Parris showed up at her front door a day after writing a Letter to the Editor about the councilwoman to Sebastian Daily. “It had become clear to me that Pamela Parris was looking for a fight,” resident Joanne Rein said.
So far, Sebastian residents aren’t buying Parris’ claim that the post was written by someone else.
“Give it a rest Pamela. You’re victim posture is getting old,” Rick Giteles said.
“Now she feels vindicated not realizing the problem is what she posted and claimed she didn’t post it,” Daisy May said.
“It’s amazing how she never gives up, lies after lies. Well Sebastian we found Pinocchio his lost sister,” Rosemary Rose wrote.
“Reading is fundamental. And I don’t want my taxes paying for reading tutors for her or Damien Gilliams,” Charles Cavender said.
“Her own words were recorded on record! Publicly too! And now this? Furthermore accusing a local news outlet of ‘hacking’ her account…and this continues. A simple explanation would have done, instead of spreading shame and blame upon everything and everyone else,” Britta Burkard said.
“This one, as well as her cronies have ZERO integrity. And Again, THIS is what we end up with when only 18% of Sebastian shows up to Vote. Let’s clean house & not let this ‘reality show’ of liars & extreme drama queens continue to be a complete embarrassment to the city of Sebastian,” Ann Bellante wrote.
The next Sebastian City Council meeting is on Wednesday, February 12, 2020, at 6:00 p.m.