CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A recently terminated employee of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office spoke out against Sheriff Garry McFadden on Friday, just weeks after former Chief Deputy Kevin Canty's resignation caused shockwaves within the agency.
In a scathing resignation latter, Canty called McFadden's leadership "toxic" and accused him of using racist language. Canty also added that McFadden ran the agency like a "third-world dictatorship."
McFadden posted a public apology this week, asking for patience from the public and reaffirming his commitment to Mecklenburg County.
Angelia Riggsbee took WCNC Charlotte back to her first meeting while working underneath McFadden. She was hired as the director of business operations at the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office on March 20. She was excited about the career advancement.
“I had so much hope of making positive change," Riggsbee said.
Soon after, she said that the hope she had was broken. The thing that stood out most was how McFadden treated his staff, Riggsbee said.
"The environment is so toxic. The bullying, the insults," Riggsbee shared. "The racial slurs, because I've heard those."
Those racist remarks were caught on a recording obtained by WCNC Charlotte.
"When he doesn’t like you or you don’t kiss the ring, everything that Kevin Canty put in his letter is absolutely correct," Riggsbee said. "He runs that organization like a dictatorship.”
Fast forward to August, when Riggsbee said she was asked to compile information for a public records request. The request detailed McFadden's travel expenses. That information was sent to Shelby Jones, McFadden's assistant.
Riggsbee said she then got a phone call from Jones, who told Riggsbee that the sheriff asked her to modify the request. Riggsbee said she wasn't comfortable with that.
"McFadden says get Riggsbee to do it," Riggsbee said. "And I said, 'Riggsbee not doing it,' so I refused because to me, it’s unethical.”
Canty told WCNC Charlotte he was asked to fire Riggsbee after that conversation. Canty refused and submitted his letter of resignation earlier this month. The termination of Riggsbee and another MCSO employee came shortly afterward. Riggsbee believes the reason she was let go was her unwillingness to modify the records request.
Following our interview, WCNC Charlotte received a statement from the Sheriff's Office explaining its side of the story.
We are aware of the emails exchanged between Dr. Riggsbee and Shelby Jones. We are providing the complete conversation and the records that were eventually submitted to the Charlotte Observer. Regarding Ms. Jones’ statement, “This is the detailed report for 2024, but he doesn’t want to submit it,” it pertained to the attached Word document, which was a detailed report of Sheriff McFadden’s 2024 travel expenses. Sheriff McFadden preferred the Excel document’s format, which is why the comment was made about his reluctance to submit it. The original Excel document provided to Ms. Jones lacked sufficient detail, so additional information was added to the highlighted areas without altering the cost. The detailed spreadsheet for Sheriff McFadden’s 2024 travel expenses, along with a PDF containing his 2023 expenses, was submitted to the Charlotte Observer. The Word document was eventually provided to the Observer, who requested a more detailed breakdown of the expenses.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.