FOR ALISON
The Murder of a Young Journalist and a Father’s Fight for Gun Safety
FOR ALISON
Andy Parker
with Ben R. Williams
Foreword by
Senator Tim Kaine
For Alison: The Murder of a Young Journalist and a Father's Fight for Gun Safety
Copyright © 2019 by Andy Parker
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
Cover and interior design by Rain Saukas.
Print ISBN: 978-1-948062-32-9
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-948062-33-6
Printed in the United States of America.
Contents
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6: The Club No One Wants to Join
This book is for all the members of the club that no one wants to join.
Foreword by
Senator Tim Kaine
I have known Andy Parker and his family for many years. I campaigned with him when he once ran for office and got to know his daughter, Alison, when she served as a dynamic television news reporter in Roanoke, Virginia. Her tragic death—shot along with her cameraman, Adam Ward, on live television by a disturbed former employee of their station—still haunts our state.
Andy has turned his boundless energy and passion to the important task of promoting meaningful steps to reduce gun violence. And he is doing this for Alison.
This is a painful story of loss and violence. It is also a story of indifference. Andy’s frustration with legislative inaction and the empty words of leaders brims over in these pages, just as they do when you meet him in person. As a grieving dad with a powerful and earned sense of righteous indignation, he doesn’t mince words. Sometimes he makes folks, even his own friends and family, uncomfortable with the way he expresses his outrage. But he is candid in acknowledging this personal challenge and affectionately points out how his wife, Barbara, often pulls him back when he goes too far. And after all, who among us can fault a suffering father for candidly expressing the raw emotion that still wells up every morning when he awakens to find his daughter gone?
Of course, Andy’s larger point—that gun violence is out of control and we have lacked the will to do simple things to reduce this scourge—is correct. We need his voice—and the voices of all survivors—pushing, encouraging, and even shaming us until we take appropriate steps to keep people safe.
Alison was a wonderful and talented young journalist. Her life continues to inspire Virginians, and her tragic death has helped change political will in the state where the NRA has its headquarters. In Virginia, the NRA rankings of candidates used to be all-powerful, and getting an “F” from the group was seen as ending any chance of electoral success. Now, an “F” ranking from the NRA is a badge of pride for many candidates and poses no challenge in winning a campaign.
We all know an Alison, a person whose life has been cut short by needless gun violence. Possibly it was in a high-profile crime like a mass shooting or Alison’s own death on live television. Maybe it was in a crime in a nearby neighborhood, barely covered by any media. Or an accidental shooting, such as when a child finds an unsecured gun in a drawer or on a shelf. Or a suicide driven by momentary or chronic despair. Or a murder brought on by domestic violence. Each of these deaths is a tragedy, and each calls out to us to act.
Evil exists not just because of its perpetrators. It exists because of bystanders. Will we continue to be bystanders to gun violence? That is the question posed by Andy Parker. The question is a painful one, but it has to be asked, and it has to be answered.
Prologue
On August 26, 2015, my daughter, Emmy Award–winning reporter Alison Parker, was murdered on live television.
She had gone to Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta, Virginia, with fellow WDBJ employee and cameraman Adam Ward. They had gotten up bright and early to interview Vicki Gardner, the head of the local chamber of commerce. This was going to be a feel-good piece about how many