Thread: Lone Protester-- A Tale of Two Interviews

In the last week I have been interviewed about my case twice. Once on August 15th by a reporter from the State newspaper and the other was yesterday by Bill Tucker of CNN. I wanted to write this letter to show everyone the contrast between the two interviews.

Noelle Phillips of the State called me on the afternoon of the 15th asking if she could interview me on that day. My wife and I were on our way back from US Immigration Center in Charleston, SC. She and our daughter had an appointment there for a biometric examination to upgrade their visa status (legal) so as to get their green card and for my wife to get an employer ID number so she can work (legally) after being here for 2 years.

I talked to Ms. Philips and arranged an interview at our home later that afternoon. She arrived about 3 PM and a photographer came a little later. Before any questions were asked I told her my case was about being bankrupted and run out of business by illegal competition in the construction industry here in the Columbia area. She proceeded to ask her questions and the photographer took a series of pictures of me. As soon as she walked out my door I turned to my wife and said this woman is going to do a hit piece on me. And she did.

From that day till the article came out in Sunday's paper I had a queasy feeling in my stomach. And sure enough, what I had told my wife was true. And what I told Bill Tucker in my first interview was true also, that I considered myself a second class American citizen and that nobody in any position of power here cared about people like me- a South Carolina small businessman in the home building industry. She commenced to portraying me as a racist, a bigot, and believe it or not, tried to say I was either illegal or undocumented because I do not have a state license to do the work that I do. I tried telling her that I am a roofing subcontractor, that I only work on single family homes and that I didn't need a state license for that. If that was true then almost every roofing company in South Carolina that does custom home shingle installation is working without a license. I checked the state laws dealing with construction and it said that if I am a subcontractor subbing work from contractors then I do not need to be licensed.

She also reported that the homeowner in question had told her that the bid I submitted to him was low, that he had checked my work out, that my work was shoddy and that was why he selected the international building company to install his copper work. Now this is a lie on the homeowners part.

One month before my protest I stopped by the home owner's house and told him I wanted to bid on the copper. His words to me were, that international roofers had done the shingle work on his house and gotten paid four to five dollars an hour, and that if I wanted the job, then I needed to submit a low bid that was close to the one the international roofers had given him. That if my bid was too high then the copper work would go to them. In the State article the homeowner says that there are people in this world that have lost jobs to illegal immigrants but not me, that I lost the job because of poor quality and a low bid.

Well, I am stating right here, now, that the homeowner is lying, and that if he is as honest as he says, then let us both take a lie detector test about the day I gave him my bid and let that determine who is telling the truth and who is lying. He also says that my copper work is of low quality, so I have posted pictures of my copper work on my blog site and everyone reading this is invited to determine for yourselves if my work is shoddy or not. www.theloneprotester.blogspot.com. In the pictures you will also find two pictures of work I did for that same homeowner in February 2005. On that date I tore off the old copper on his bay window and replaced it. When I finished it the homeowner came outside, said it looked real good and got a smile on his face when he gave me the check for it. I had also a couple of weeks before Installed copper over his detached garage doorway. He was very happy with that also.

Reading into the State's article Ms. Phillips says that she contacted the development company that rebuilt the house and they declined to be interviewed. The article says that I accuse the developer of hiring illegal aliens but I never said that. I never even mentioned the developers name or business. But I have done a job for that developer in the past also. And he was happy with my work at that time. In fact he called me a few months later asking that I submit bids on six town homes he was planning on building in the future. So evidently he was happy with my work also.

Now, my question is, if Ms. Phillips can interview me and check my past, then why does she say that the developer and the international builder declined to be interviewed but she doesn't bother to do any investigation on them. If she is an objective reporter then why didn't she investigate them? The homeowner said that the international roofers were paid four to five dollars an hour. If they were, then they were paid slave wages because roofers here average 12 to 15 dollars an hour. Shouldn't that company be investigated for unfair business practices and for breaking federal laws under the RICO Act?

Within one mile of the house I protested are numerous jobs I have done over the past few years. I have completed probably 120 to 150 jobs in that area. And to do that many jobs in that area in the past and not have any work now tells me that the reason isn't because of shoddy work. That roofing company and others like it is the reason I am almost bankrupt and out of business. They are permitted to stay in business and are given a free pass by the authorities and Ms Phillips. She didn't bother to check them out. For some reason in her article she feels that just saying that they declined to be interviewed is enough. I have never seen a more biased reporter in my life. And it strengthens my feelings that I am a second class American citizen that just needs to shut up and be forced out of business by people that don't even belong in my country and the crooks that employ them.

Now, I want to contrast that interview with the one that Bill Tucker did yesterday. When it started he said that there was a lot of difference between my statements and the homeowners. He said that the homeowner said I did shoddy work, that the bid I submitted was low and that was why the international roofers did the job. I told him that what the homeowner said was untrue and I was ready to take a lie detector about it. I also requested that he check out the pictures of my copper work and determine for himself if my work was shoddy. I gave him pictures of the work I did on that house before it burnt down. He was surprised then because he had interviewed him earlier and the homeowner had said nothing about the prior work. Bill Tucker was also surprised when I told him that I had done work for the developer before and that he asked me to bid on 6 more jobs he was building.

Bill Tucker came to interview me without any preconceived biases unlike Ms. Phillips. There is a world of difference in the professionalism between them. Bill wanted to re interview me because of the questions the reporter, homeowner and developer had raised. But he was fair to me unlike Ms Phillips. For anyone wanting to see how fair the State reporter was to me just google her name along with illegal immigration and you will get about 30,000 hits. Make your own determination as to if she had an agenda when she interviewed me. See if you can find one article where she writes on the adverse affects of illegal immigration on American lives.

One item of note, last week, a contractor called me saying he needed me to finish some work for him. This was a contractor who I have done work for in the past. A couple of months ago he asked me to measure and bid on 2 metal jobs. I did, but somebody else got the work. His call last week was about the other company not coming back to finish the job. And he had the gall to ask me to finish it for him. I asked him who did the job and he would only say that it was a company run by a blonde headed woman named Joy. He says she won't even answer her phone or send anyone else out to finish the work so he needs me to do it.

As for me and my business, it is still heading straight downhill. And it will continue heading that way because the politicians and law enforcement will keep on treating me like a second class citizen while the crooks and illegal aliens continue to get a free pass like they are first class American citizens when in actuality they are common criminals. So do you see what happens to a small businessman when he tries to play by the rules as best as he can? He not only gets run out of business but he also gets arrested and jailed if he gripes about it. And then he gets slammed by the local liberal newspaper too.

One last question, is there any reporter in this state that has the professionalism to investigate the allegations I have made instead of concentrating totally on me? Or are all of them going to get a free pass once again?

Terry, good thesis to your article!
It's pretty obvious that "senora" philips put much of her own personal bias into the article, which obviously means she's an OBL. I would think it's safe to say that she definately had an agenda before interviewing you. For whatever reason, it sure looks like she was out to paint you as the bad guy. She is obviously quite the liberal and was out to make you look bad for the OBL side.

Just a thought, but I would start charging reporters who want to interview you. Maybe this would help offset some of your business losses.

Loneprotestor have you thought about reporting your competition to ICE? If they ARE employing illegals, they might look into and actually do something.
I believe now they are going after the employers of illegals as well.

Anyway, good luck.

I often wonder how these illegal groupies (obls) would act or if they would even change their minds if they were to lose a job or be harmed by their precious illegals.Just going through the legal system when the party at fault is illegal may change their minds,maybe not.
Thanks for keeping us posted Terry.




Head 'em up,move 'em out Rawhide!