Radio station fires conservative host after she filmed herself yelling at landscapers for speaking Spanish
(CNN) — A New Hampshire radio station cut ties with a conservative host after she filmed herself verbally attacking landscapers who were speaking Spanish.
Dianna Ploss, who hosted the Dianna Ploss Show on WSMN 1590, livestreamed a video of herself on Facebook as she confronted a group of workers and asked if any were undocumented immigrants.
“It’s America. You should be speaking English,” she says in the video while recording the workers on the job. “Is anybody here illegal? Are these guys illegal?”
Later in the video when a man who witnessed her rant questioned why she was “harassing” the workers, Ploss turns to the camera, and says, “He’s a Black man and he’s going to protect the brown man from this White woman whose practicing White privilege because she happened to walk by and heard this guy talking to all of these guys doing this work in Spanish.”
The video has since been removed, but clips of it have resurfaced elsewhere on the internet.
WSMN 1590, based in Nashua, said on Sunday that Ploss is “no longer associated or affiliated in any way with WSMN or Bartis-Russell Broadcasting, LLC.”
“We at WSMN value freedom of speech, freedom of expression and assembly. We will not tolerate discrimination, racism or hatred,” the radio station said in a statement. “We continue to present and offer on air opportunities for discussion, education and the exchange of opinions and ideas.”
Ploss could not be reached for comment.
In a live stream on her Facebook page on Monday evening, she said she’s not going to “back down,” “give in” or “give up” after being fired for her comments.
“You have not silenced Dianna Ploss, I am not going away,” she said, while standing in front of a cutout of President Donald Trump and a poster that read “MA 4 TRUMP 2020.”
She said she “had to hire security” because she has been threatened via text, voicemail and email, by people across the US. She called her critics “cowards,” “fake Republicans” and “leftists.”
Her Facebook live stream comes after more than 10,800 people had signed a petition demanding Ploss to be removed from WSMN’s radio lineup.
She also defended her comments in posts on Facebook Saturday where she wrote: “So, if you want people in America to speak English, that makes you a ‘racist’” and said she was not “backing down.”
The landscaping company that employs the workers who were harassed by Ploss issued a statement thanking their team and the “concerned citizen who handled this challenging situation with the utmost of class and professionalism.”
“I want to express my sincere appreciation for the overwhelming and most meaningful support that you have provided our company regarding the unfortunate incident that took place in our great city last week,” Tom Morin, the owner of Morin’s Landscaping, Inc., said in the statement.
“The numerous phone calls, social posts, emails, voice messages and overall kind words are extremely encouraging and heartfelt. I believe that we can all take immense pride in how quickly the community rallied to demonstrate that this type of behavior is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”