Ex-Fox News Employee Commits Suicide Outside of News Corp. Headquarters
A man who reportedly worked for a Fox affiliate in Austin, Texas, killed himself this morning in front of Manhattan's News Corporation building, which contains the Fox News headquarters.
A law enforcement official told the Wall Street Journal that Phillip Perea shot himself in the chest around 9 a.m. after he handed out fliers about how Fox News "ended [his] career."
News of the shooting was apparently broken by Geraldo Rivera.
Unconfirmed but word is someone handed security guard a note then went outside and shot himself in front of my Fox News office. Unconfirmed.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) January 26, 2015
Just hours before committing suicide, Perea tweeted a link to to a YouTube series he'd apparently created called "The American Workplace Bully: How FOX News Ended My Career."
Perea claims in the video that "managerial bullying"—which he blamed on Fox News—led to him being fired from his job as a promotions producer for KTBC in Austin. According to a recording he provided to the Austin Chronicle for an unrelated story, Perea was suspended from KTBC by General Manager Michael Lewis in May for using inappropriate language and not following directions. Clips from that recording appear to be the same ones at the start of the YouTube video embedded above.
Several other of his recent tweets were aimed at Fox News.
Congratulations FOX, this is all the money I have left to my name, $104 #theamericanworkplacebully pic.twitter.com/SIV7s9LEeK
— Phillip Perea (@PhillipPerea73) January 23, 2015
@@Bill_O_Reilly are you not committed to the Truth? #theamericanworkplacebully http://t.co/xbnkEdwNpp
— Phillip Perea (@PhillipPerea73) January 14, 2015
Perea was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later. A suicide note and a gun were recovered at the scene, according to the WSJ.
[Image via AP]