With one Facebook status update on election night, a California woman went from Cold Stone Creamery employee in the forgettable town of Turlock, CA to infamous racist under investigation by the Secret Service. On her Facebook page, 22-year-old Denise Helms referred to President Barack Obama as "the nigger" and expressed hope that a second term would conclude with his assassination.
Despite losing her job as an ice cream scooper in a suburban strip mall once her racial slurs went viral on Twitter, Helms cluelessly stuck by her words. When Sacramento-based Fox 40 News came calling, she told a reporter, "I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. The assassination part is kind of harsh. I'm not saying like I would go do that or anything like that, by any means, but if it was to happen, I don't think I'd care one bit."
In the wake of the news coverage, Helms deleted the original Facebook post, only to follow it with another update that didn't really help anything:
"So apparently my post last night about Obama got onto Twitter and Fox 40 came and interviewed me cause apparently a lot of people in Sacramento think I'm crazy and racist. WOW is all I got to say!! I'm not racist and I'm not crazy. just simply stating my opinion.!!!"
When the Fox 40 reporter asked whether or not she "equate[d] the President with the n-word," however, Helms explained, "sure."
The Sacramento Secret Service office is looking into the case and any threats against the President are a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Secret Service Agent Scott Gillingham explained, "We get a lot of these kinds of referrals, especially off of the Internet."
On her Facebook page, Helms also "liked" the Romney/Ryan 2012 campaign, although that is not quite the same as actually voting for a candidate. The Modesto Bee reports that Helms does not actually appear on the state voter registry.
Here is Fox 40's report:
[Fox40]
[ModestoBee]
