The man who first noticed that Melania Trump plagiarized a portion of her speech at the Republican National Convention, setting off a national firestorm, is a gay interior designer and journalist who once lived and worked in Atlanta.
With a tweet – and then a follow up – Jarrett Hill pointed out that a portion of Trump's prime time convention speech on Monday was lifted from one that Michelle Obama delivered to introduce her husband to voters during the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
OMG. Melania. That was literally a whole line from Michelle Obama 2012.
“…their willingness to work hard for them.””#GOPConvention
— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) July 19, 2016
Melania must’ve liked Michelle Obama’s 2008 Convention speech, since she plagiarized it.#GOPConvention #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/vGmsG9KFx3
— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) July 19, 2016
CORRECTION: Melania stole a whole graph from Michelle's speech. #GOPConvention
WATCH: https://t.co/8BCOwXAHSy pic.twitter.com/zudpDznGng— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) July 19, 2016
Hill, a recently laid off journalist, was watching Trump's speech at a coffee shop in Los Angeles. Via the New York Times:
Mr. Hill, a television journalist who was recently laid off, said in an interview that one of Ms. Trump’s lines — the words “strength of your dreams” — caught his attention as he was watching on his computer from a Starbucks in Los Angeles, juggling Facebook chats and browsing Twitter.
“It kind of made me pause for a minute,” Mr. Hill said. “I remembered that line from Michelle Obama’s speech.”
Mr. Hill, 31, found the clip of Mrs. Obama’s speech online and noticed that parts of the two speeches sounded the same. He then realized that a larger portion appeared to have been borrowed as he continued to examine both.
“I thought, ‘That’s legit plagiarism,’ ” said Mr. Hill, who described himself as a supporter of President Obama. “‘Someone took this piece and plugged in their own information.’”
The tweets came shortly after Trump's speech about her husband. Within hours, it became national news – and a big controversy. And since, Hill has faced an onslaught of media attention – including a live appearance Tuesday afternoon on CNN, a stop on “Access Hollywood” and mentions in media outlets across the country.
CNN. Live. Next. pic.twitter.com/qzg4LdDrBO
— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) July 19, 2016
Hill has several ties to Atlanta, including studying at Kennesaw State and Clark Atlanta. He worked on AIDS Walk Atlanta (photo) for several years, including 2008 through 2011. Hill has also worked at 11 Alive and CNN in downtown Atlanta.
Need to know more about him? Heavy offers some more facts.
UPDATE | Former co-workers of Hill's in Atlanta had nothing but praise for him. Via the AJC:
Evelyn Mims, who worked at 11Alive for almost 39 years until 2014 as a producer and community relations specialist, remembered Hill was bursting with ideas and was very enthusiastic about social media in its relative early days. “He worked all the shifts,” she said. “But he realized he couldn’t move up. So he left. He’s in a better place.”
Former education reporter Donna Lowry, who took a buyout in the spring, in a text recalled he was a good writer and very funny to boot.
Fellow reporter Keith Whitney, who also left at the same time as Lowry, called him “one of those brilliant creative young people that you’re glad to see get into journalism. Loved working with him! He was a floor director then. Funny and passionate. We will be hearing more from him in the future.”