Dangerous claim Sea-Tac hijacking motivated by low pay, work culture

Leave it to upset coworkers and unhinged Twitter-activists to chalk up the Richard Russell hijacking to simple anger over minimum wage and a “grueling” work culture. It’s a claim that shouldn’t be seriously entertained.

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A narrative has emerged surrounding what some believe motivated Russell to hijack the Horizon Air turboprop passenger plane: low pay and a tough work culture. Only, the claim likely better reflects the coworkers’ and activists’ own anger, not Russell’s.

First reported by KING 5, Chief Investigative Reporter Susannah Frame spoke with some of Russell’s coworkers at Horizon. He report notes coworkers take issue with the “grueling” culture at Horizon where they’re understaffed and underappreciated.

“Some said the work culture most likely prompted Russell to teach the bosses a lesson,” according to the report.

“He was going to show them that they pushed a good guy to his limits,” said one worker to Frame.

To back up this claim, some point to what Russell said to the air traffic controller: “Minimum wage, we’ll chalk it up to that. Maybe that will grease some gears a little bit with the higher-ups.”

This was all Twitter activists needed before they jumped into the fray. Here’s a sampling of the ridiculousness:

-”Richard Russell was a wage slave depressed at the notion of working his entire life for very little only to have some corporation take advantage of his old age…”

-”We’re proud of our $15 min wage, but it’s not a living wage here. We have a homelessness crisis. Stealing an airplane is a reflection of the same crisis. R.I.P. Richard Russell…”

-”RIP to a true hero and martyr for the minimum wage worker, the sky king richard russell…”

The problem with this narrative? There’s no proof it’s true.

Kudos to Frame for pointing this out out: Russell bragged on his social media accounts about the “pretty cool things” his job with Horizon allowed him to do — such as traveling.

Is it possible that he was like almost everyone else in this world who thinks they should make more and be more appreciated? Sure. But to claim that one line from the cockpit recordings motivated him is as ridiculous as me claiming video games are really responsible. After all, he also said this when there was concern over his ability to fly: “No, I mean, I don’t need that much help. I’ve played some video games before.”

Healthy people upset with their hourly wage — or a grueling work culture — don’t steal planes from their employer. Russell was clearly having some kind of issue — possibly a mental health episode.

What the coworkers and Twitter users are doing is transferring their anger to Russell and exploiting his story for their political gain. And by doing so they’re ignoring the role mental health likely played in this incident, which does a huge disservice to the community.

Media members will spend the next several days talking to coworkers and there’s the possibility that this narrative spreads. It shouldn’t. We could be having a conversation about mental health. Let’s not waste time pursuing the social justice fight of some of his coworkers and random Twitter users.

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