Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie's neighbor, Jill Burnett, slammed the Washington Post on Friday after the paper's reporters were loitering in their Alexandria, Va. neighborhood and driving along with cars leaving Gillespie's cul-de-sac.
Washington Post reporters were staking out Gillespie's neighborhood in the "darkness of the early morning" on Wednesday to try and figure out where Gillespie was going to campaign that day, the Post reported, detailing multiple vehicles leaving the neighborhood.
An Infiniti SUV that bore a Gillespie for Governor bumper sticker and looked like a vehicle he had used at other events turned out to contain a neighbor—a mother driving her pre-teen to school. The main activity in that car was not politicking, but texting.
Another SUV sporting a Gillespie sticker—this one a Chevy Tahoe that had appeared in photos Gillespie supporters had posted on social media—looked more promising as it peeled away from his house. The Tahoe ended up at Gillespie's campaign office in Old Town Alexandria. But the car carried only an aide with a sheaf of documents—no candidate.
By the time the sun had burned off the morning dew, a Buick Enclave emerged from the Gillespie compound. Three miles up the road, it became evident that the vehicle carried only two women.
Burnett wrote a lengthy Facebook post castigating the Post reporters for violating her family's privacy.
"Another disappointing article from the Washington Post on Ed Gillespie. I'm disgusted and outraged that our homes are being stalked by reporters under cover of darkness. I'm the neighbor mentioned in the article," Burnett wrote. "The Washington Post's surveillance team followed me as I drove my son and daughter to school. We had no idea they were following us. It was a violation of our privacy and crosses the line. I have lived across the street from one of the finest men you would ever meet—ED Gillespie."
Burnett, who appears to be a supporter of Gillespie and has been neighbors with his family for 15 years, continued her post by talking about her personal interactions with him.
"I have lived across the street from the Gillespie's for 15 years. I have watched him worship, connect small businesses, help veterans, and shake hands at a metro station all before lunch time," Burnett wrote." I have watched someone who is called to serve out work anyone I have ever known. If I get up to get a drink of water his house is all lit up already at work. VIrginia [sic] needs ED Gillespie as he will work for all Virginians and cares deeply about our state."