2 months ago
WASHINGTON, DC (CBS/AP)--Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod says she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week.
Sherrod made the announcement Thursday in San Diego at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention.
The edited video posted by Andrew Breitbart led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to ask her to resign, a decision he reconsidered after seeing the entire video of her March speech to a local NAACP group. In the full speech, Sherrod spoke of racial reconciliation and lessons she learned after initially hesitating to help a white farmer save his home.
MORE: LESSONS FROM THE SHERROD SAGA
Vilsack and President Barack Obama later called Sherrod to apologize for her hasty ouster. Vilsack has offered her a new job at the department, which she is still considering.
"I wish he had come here today because I really would like to talk to him," Sherrod said at the convention. "He had to know that he was targeting me now whether he was also trying to target the NAACP he had to know he was targeting me."
"At this point he hasn't apologized and I don't want it," Sherrod said. "At this point he will definitely hear from me."
Earlier Thursday, President Obama - again - addressed the Sherrod controversy while appearing on ABC's "The View."
He said that Sherrod "deserves better" than what happened and that his administration shares the blame for the events.
