Kristy Ann Wilker was fired from her job as a nurse at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after a video of her ranting about Black privilege and the death of George Floyd went viral on Twitter. While Wilker claims, “I’m not racist” and that “racism is dead,” she goes on to discuss how Black people throw their privilege “in white people’s face so that they can get what they want and get respect.”
Wilker starts off the video by saying, “Black privilege is thinking you are deserved or entitled to something because of the color of your skin. They — people, Black people especially — do get special scholarships, um, they are also shielded from a lot of scrutiny, um, because of the color of their skin.”
“I’m not racist,” Wilker insists. “I would never treat any patient differently, I would never treat any human being differently. I think God loves everyone. I’m on the same page. However, I don’t think that any race is above scrutiny, including Black people.”
Wilker Said Floyd Was Wrongly Turned Into a Martyr
GettyProtesters confront police outside the 3rd Police Precinct on May 27, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Wilker also shared her thoughts on the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. His cause of death was ruled as “asphyxia from sustained forceful pressure,” according to an independent autopsy requested by Floyd’s family.
This report was in contrast to that of the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who had announced that Floyd died of “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. Manner of death: Homicide. How injury occurred: Decedent experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s).” They listed other significant conditions as “Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use.”
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Wilker says in her video of Floyd, “He started to have a freakout panic attack when they put him in the car probably because he was high on meth, Fentanyl and positive for COVID. … Was the police officer’s foot in the wrong spot? Maybe, but you know, um, meth and Fentanyl and positive COVID are probably more leading factors to [a myocardial infarction], so do your research.”
To the people storming the streets in protest in the name of Floyd and tearing down statues, the former nurse tells them to “toughen up and grow up. Rise above it.”
“Some things will always be,” Wilker continues. “I have never been a part of slavery. I don’t know anything about that. I’m not raising children who know anything about that. You don’t know anything about that. So, let’s not um, pretend that our history — or that history — not even ours because we’re taking stuff out of history, right? Teddy Roosevelt? So, let’s not pretend like that has any reflection on today’s society.”
A Twitter Campaign Pushed for Wilker to Be Fired From Her Job
As Wilker’s video went viral, other Twitter members shared about experiences they say they’ve had with the former nurse. One user tweeted, “Just spoke to someone who worked with her a couple of years ago. Once a ten year old Black boy came in with gunshot wounds, and she told her coworkers not to worry about it because ‘none of them are innocent.’ People have been reporting her for years and Lutheran has done nothing.”
A spokesperson for Lutheran Hospital confirmed to Raw Story on June 24 that “the individual who posted those comments” is no longer employed by the establishment.
A woman named Alesha Brown also confirmed Wilker’s termination by posting a letter to her from Angela Boyle. The brief note read, “The social media comments you referenced do not reflect our values. The individual who posted those comments is no longer employed by Luthern Hospital.”
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