The Stanly News & Press
Saturday, February 11, 2012 —
A Stanly County man’s way of disciplining his daughter filled Internet message boards, Facebook and Twitter streams and news reports throughout the country Friday, just a few days after his homemade video was posted to the Net.
Tommy Jordan, who reportedly lives outside the Albemarle city limits, took to Facebook this week, taping a video Feb. 7 in response to an alleged Facebook post by his daughter complaining about his parenting skills and chores he makes her do.
In the more than 8-minute video, Jordan sits in an Adirondack chair in what appears to be an open field. While holding a cigarette that he never puffs from, he reads excerpts from his daughter’s Facebook posts and offers answers back to her.
Jordan, who works in information technology (IT), identifies his daughter by name and says she is 15. He reads comments from her post that are full of expletives and includes a list of chores and reasons why she considers herself a “slave.”
“To my parents, I’m not your [expletive] slave. It’s not my responsibility to clean up your [expletive]. We have a cleaning lady for a reason….If you want coffee, get off your [expletive] and make it yourself. If you want a garden, shovel the fertilizer yourself. Don’t sit back on your [expletive] and watch me do it,” the post reads.
After reading a letter concerning the post, he addresses some of the items mentioned, including chores such as sweeping, putting dishes away, making her bed and doing her laundry.
He continues to explain that the last time she was grounded for something he calls “fairly childish and stupid,” he took away the computer, cell phone and Facebook.
“I don’t know how to say how disappointed I am in you and how disrespectful you were to every single adult in your life, but kid, you got it easy, way easy. It’s about to get harder, it’s about to get a whole lot harder, today,” he said.
Jordan proceeds to say he was going to post this video to his daughter’s Facebook wall so other children can see what happens if they make posts such as his daughter’s and so other parents will know what is going on.
He then gets up from the chair, shows the laptop on the ground and pulls out his .45 caliber pistol and fires multiple hollow point bullets at the computer.
In the video, Jordan makes reference to talking with officers from Albemarle Police Department, saying some individuals approve of his acts.
Albemarle City Manager Ray Allen offered a response to this statement Saturday morning.
“It’s unfortunate that the individual in the video has been identified in the media as an Albemarle resident. This incident did not take place in the city of Albemarle, and any case resulting from it is not within the jurisdiction of the city’s police department,” Allen said.
“The alleged statement regarding an investigator with the police department does not reflect the opinion of the Albemarle Police Department or the city of Albemarle.”
The video has spawned many spoofs on it and serious commentary videos on YouTube.
By Saturday morning, Jordan’s video has been viewed more than 11 million times on YouTube and was mentioned on “Good Morning America.”
For more on the video, see Sunday's print edition of The Stanly News & Press.
