~ A Humorous Tale Of Competing Narratives ~
Since we identified the Walter Scott passenger as Pierre Fulton, we must have caught Ryan Julison a little off guard – because an odd and somewhat humorous dynamic surfaces. The first media entity to inquire about passenger Mr. Pierre Fulton gets the following background from his family:
(Via Daily Mail) […] Meanwhile, the man who was in the car when Walter Scott was flagged down by police before being gunned down was identified today as drifter Pierre Fulton.
[…] Pierre’s family said they had no idea why he was in the car and how he came to be friends with the shooting victim. His grand mother Eunice Fulton, 70, said: ‘I spoke with my daughter Franetta on Thursday and Pierre had only just told her he was in the car. ‘It was a terrible incident but we haven’t had the chance to speak to him about it. He used to live with me until a couple of years ago. But I don’t where he hangs out now. He moves around.’
[…] His grandmother added: ‘He is a good grandson. He cares for his family. But I don’t know what he is doing now.’ Pierre has worked as a cleaner, laundry man and warehouseman over the years, but some members of his family have lost touch with him.
Rosanne Grant of Alternative Staffing employment agency told Daily Mail Online: ‘ He worked at various jobs over the period of a year through me. The last time I hear about him was in 2006 and nothing since. I don’t know what he has been working at.’ (link)
Yikes, it appears the Daily Mail got out a little ahead of the preferred story. However, when you look at the picture of Pierre Fulton provided by the image consultants (ie. lawyers and Ryan Julison) the goal of the optical engineers is transparent.
Drifter? Unemployed? We can’t have any of that.
Mr. Fulton is so industrious he uses a drill in both hands while he works. Sheeesh, trying a little too hard to create the optics becomes almost a parody of itself. I digress….
The modified version approved by the legal office and image consultant, Ryan Julison, sounds much better:
(Post Courier) Pierre Fulton, who was a passenger in the car when Walter Scott fled from a traffic stop and was shot and killed by a North Charleston police officer, said he is still in mourning over his close friend and will never know why he ran.
“Walter was a dear friend, and I miss him every day,” Fulton stated in a release from Charleston attorney Mark Peper. “Over the past five years, he helped me to become a better man and showed me the value of hard work. I’ll never know why he ran, but I know he didn’t deserve to die. Please keep Walter and his family in your prayers and respect my privacy moving forward.”
Peper said in the release that it will be the only statement his client makes before any court proceeding.
“We hope this this statement is sufficient enough to allow him to continue the healing process in a private manner,” the release states. (link)
Does the “approved version” really need any further explanation?
Really?
Now, about that neighbor who sold Walter the car…