A former top vaccination official in Tennessee alleged Thursday she had been mailed a dog muzzle days before her firing.
An anonymously sent Amazon package containing a black muzzle was delivered to Dr. Michelle Fiscus’ office approximately a week before her Monday termination, the former top vaccination official’s husband, Brad Fiscus, told The Tennessean.
Tennessee’s former top vaccine official Dr. Michelle Fiscus says she was sent an anonymous package with a dog muzzle in it just before being fired for relaying vaccine outreach information. pic.twitter.com/NLBFP19bhG
— The Recount (@therecount) July 15, 2021
“We’re trying to stay above that. Someone wanted to send a message to tell her to stop talking, they thought it would be a threat to her,” Brad claimed. “It was an obvious sign.” (RELATED: Public Health Official Says She Was Canned After She Suggested Kids Could Get Vaccinated Without Parental Consent)
“There was no note or threat associated with it,” Fiscus alleged Thursday. “Initially, I thought it was a joke. I reached out to a few of my friends … None of them knew what I was talking about.”
Fiscus added that Amazon refused to release information on the sender of the package without a subpoena, as the incident was not seen to be a “large enough threat.”
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security is investigating the allegations, a spokesperson confirmed in an email to The Tennessean.
Fiscus had reportedly come under fire from the state’s Republican lawmakers for the Tennessee Health Department’s efforts to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to teenagers aged 14 and older without parental consent, according to ABC News.
Fiscus’s termination letter did not clarify reasons for her dismissal, and the spokesperson for the state’s health department declined to comment on the matter, ABC News reported.