A school principal has sparked outrage after claiming that UNC shooter Tailei Qi was a Chinese spy and that he had “nothing WHITE on him.”
Wendy Waters, the principal of Spring Creek High School in Wayne County, North Carolina, has been labeled a racist after she issued a scathing response to Monday’s shooting in which Qi allegedly shot and killed his own teacher.
‘What? He only came to our country in 2022 from the UNIVERSITY OF WUHAN!!!” she wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post. “I bet he’s a Chinese nationalist, stealing intellectual property as a ‘visiting student’ or working for the CCP!!”
The shocking post went on to say there is “nothing WHITE” about Qi, and she vowed “not to let them get away with their gaslighting BS!!!”
The headmaster, who has not yet been released from her role, ended the diatribe by calling herself a “crazy mom” and saying, “WE NEED TO DISCONNECT FROM PEOPLE WHO HATE US!!!”
Tailei Qi has been charged with first-degree shooting in Monday’s shooting at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill campus
Spring Creek High School in North Carolina condemned principal Wendy Waters’ (pictured) social media tirade, but did not fire her, saying she is “under review”
Waters’ bizarre Facebook post sparked accusations of racism after she said there was ‘nothing white’ about the UNC campus shooter
The Facebook post comes days after Qi was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of Zijie Yan, an associate professor who taught the alleged shooter as part of a physics research group.
Investigators have not yet released a motive for the shooting, and Qi was held without bail after failing to make a plea at a trial on Tuesday.
When the shooting happened, we saw terrified students jump out of a first-floor window to escape the gunfire.
But the doctoral student, who previously graduated from Wuhan University, has now been accused by the school principal of “working for the CCP.”
Waters’ wild accusation comes months after the US Department of Energy released a report finding the Covid-19 pandemic stemmed from a lab leak in Wuhan, China.
The pandemic also sparked a wave of anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination, and Waters’ rant was condemned by concerned parents, social media and her own school — despite not firing her for the post.
In a statement after her comments appeared online, Wayne County Schools said it was “aware” of her social media rant but said there was no change in her status as principal, according to WRAL.
“While we are limited in what we can say because this is a personnel issue, we must be clear in stating that Ms. Waters’ personal mail does not in any way reflect the views of the school district,” the statement continued.
“This matter is being reviewed and handled in accordance with the policies of the local board of education.”
Comments on social media from people claiming to be students at Waters’ school claim she regularly rants about the PA system and has been described as ‘appalling’.
She described herself as a “political junkie” on her now-delisted Facebook profile.
In the shooting at UNC’s Chapel Campus on Monday, Qi allegedly shot Yan after they worked together on nanoscience technology research.
Social media erupted with outrage after the Facebook post appeared online, with some claiming to be students of Waters and claiming she regularly ranted about the school’s PA system.
Tailei Qi graduated from Wuhan University in 2015 because Waters reportedly wondered if he was a spy for the CCP
When the shooting broke out, the campus was put under lockdown as police launched an hour-and-a-half manhunt that ended with Qi being arrested about a mile away from campus.
He was charged with first-degree murder the next day, and friends of the alleged shooter said he seemed “nice” and was “really quiet” when they studied together.
Ayden Scott told WRAL: ‘I never could have imagined that he would be the kind of person who would be capable of this sort of thing. He was always very quiet.’
“Every time he talked to me, he seemed really nice. When I saw his face in the online reports, I was beyond shocked.’
After he was taken into custody, a slew of disturbing, rambunctious social media posts surfaced allegedly written by Qi, in which he ranted online about bullies, “tattletales” and being overworked in the months before the fatal shooting.
Qi wrote on July 31: “I would like to make new friends. I am a second year PhD student interested in nanoparticle synthesis, optical trapping, self-assembly, spectra analysis and ML.
‘A bit silly in the trifles of everyday life, talking very enthusiastically about research. Reach me when you are inerest (sic).’
He often complained about his PI — or chief investigator — which is the common name for the head of the lab at a research center, but he did not identify his alleged victim, Yan, in the posts.
Qi, 34, made his first court appearance on Tuesday and faces charges of first-degree murder and gun possession on campus
Tailei Qi (second right) and his academic advisor Zijie Yan (left) were seen in a photo previously circulated by the college before Monday’s horror attack
Zijie Yan, the suspect’s academic advisor, was tragically killed in the shooting
In a tweet dated Oct. 31, 2022, he wrote, “Both the group of people who say I’m lazy and those to prove I work hard instead of telling me they’re trying to gobble up my privacy.
“I think their motivation is just to tell my PI and then control me by telling stories.”
On August 18 last year, he wrote, “Just talk to my PI and keep his promise. He should have more experience with these girls and click stories.
“Then we can just get out of this stupid topic. Let’s just turn our attention to nature. I won’t change anything if it’s not necessary.’
He also complained that he was tired from the hours he worked, saying in another post: “
“Last semester I run 80+ hours a week and feel relaxed and energized. Now I only work 60+ hours a week and I feel tired.
“Only because I spend too much time convincing myself that I’m only working out of interest, rather than showing others that I’m working.”
In another tweet from July 18 last year, he said, “I just feel my privacy is being insulted.
“When I work, I think I show the boss that I work rather than my interests, devaluing the meaning of my work. That’s so disgusting.
“Self-respect keeps me from working. Then it takes effort to convince myself that what I do is only because I like it.’
The alleged shooter also complained about bullying in the US.
He wrote, “Bullying in America appears to be a problem. It often happens that people don’t stop them the first time. Explanation is not a solution, but makes them feel that others will advocate for them every time they raise an issue, making them a voyeur day and night trying to find an excuse.”
Tailei Qi can be seen in an image provided to WRAL, sitting on the floor near a property about a mile away from campus, wearing a dark-colored shirt and glasses.
The allegations of CCP “spies” infiltrating US universities come after years of speculation that the Chinese government has set up espionage links in US education.
These claims led the Trump administration to introduce the “China Initiative,” a national security program designed to combat claims that intellectual property was being stolen from research universities — a program that was terminated by President Biden in February 2022.
However, allegations against Chinese academics at US universities are often seen as worthless, and Duke Professor Eileen Chow told WRAL she has seen students unfairly targeted for the issue.
“STEM students in particular are suspected of being spies or traitors or whatever,” Chow said. “This is something that Asian Americans or Asian diaspora or international students in the US worry about all the time.”