Thread by @AliVelshi

1/15
In the summer of 1974, a woman named Karen Silkwood decided to put the truth above all else, including her own safety and well-being. Silkwood was a chemical technician at a plutonium plant in Oklahoma run by the Kerr-McGee Corporation. #velshi

2/15
Silkwood was also a labor union representative and regularly raised concerns about health & safety practices at the nuclear plant. In fact, she, herself was a walking, talking testament to the plant’s safety failures. #velshi

3/15
One day she conducted a routine self-check & found that her body contained more than 400x the legal limit of plutonium. If she was contaminated, so were others. Silkwood testified about the extreme negligence at the plant to the Atomic Energy Commission. #velshi

4/15
Silkwood also wanted the public to know about Kerr-McGee’s blatant disregard for the health & safety of its employees. So she assembled a binder full of data, documentation & company papers and arranged a meeting with a NY Times reporter. #velshi

5/15
On November 13th, 1974, she attended a union meeting with, according to witnesses who were there, that binder in hand. After the meeting, she got into her Honda Civic and began the 30-mile drive to Oklahoma City to meet the reporter. #velshi

6/15
Karen Silkwood never arrived. She was found dead in her car on the side of the road.
She had somehow crashed into a concrete structure with no other cars involved.
Police would rule the crash an accident. #velshi

7/15
An autopsy found drugs in Silkwood’s system so they said she probably fell asleep behind the wheel. But investigators also found skid marks & a suspicious dent on her car’s rear bumper. #velshi

8/15
It led to speculation that she was run off the road by someone who didn’t want her to spill the company’s secrets. As for that binder that witnesses say she left the meeting with - the one with all of the evidence for the reporter - it was nowhere to be found. #velshi

9/15
This is an extreme example of how potentially dangerous choosing to be a whistleblower can be. Most whistleblowers don’t end up dead, but some end up in prison, or fired and blacklisted from their industry, or demoted. #velshi

10/15
Many are harassed, bullied, and stalked, and end up facing a life of isolation and in some cases, depression. Being a whistleblower is thankless. For most whistleblowers, the risks far outweigh the reward. And it takes a lot of grit to get through the suffering. #velshi

11/15
On a phone call on July 25th, 2019, the now disgraced fmr. president said to the President of Ukraine, “I would like you to do us a favor..." It was a blatant abuse of power & contrary to the laws of the land & Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman knew that. So he spoke up. #velshi

12/15
He did so in defense of his country while working in an administration widely known for bullying and retaliation, because he felt in his bones that the President of the United States was doing something very very wrong, that was not in the public interest. #velshi

13/15
In part, as a result of his actions, that President was impeached and, subsequently, voted out of office. But Vindman paid a heavy personal and professional toll. He was denied a promotion to full Colonel. #velshi

14/15
He was forced to retire from the army. His brother - who had nothing to do with the impeachment - was fired from his job in the White House. #velshi

15/15
Vindman knew that doing the right thing may cost him, but he decided to do it, anyway. Because, as he testified before the United States Congress during the impeachment hearings, “Here” ...meaning here in America, “Here, right matters.” #velshi