Alabama conservative commentator says she ‘snuck’ into Home Depot office, found DEI files

The editor-at-large of a conservative news and opinion website claimed she snuck into the office of an Alabama Home Depot and got a hold of the company’s DEI training.

Erica Thomas, editor-at-large of 1819 News, claimed the files showed a policy forces workers “to believe a narrative that maybe some don’t want to believe.”

1819 News is a website that was once owned by the Alabama Policy Institute.

It was unclear what narrative she was referring to.

Thomas made the remarks during an appearance Friday on FM Talk 1065′s Midday Mobile with Sean Sullivan.

“I actually went back into the office at Home Depot. I snuck back there and went through some files, like training files. I’m serious, It was wide open,” Thomas told Sullivan.

“You know we’re on the air, right?” Sullivan replied. “It didn’t say you couldn’t go in. There was no signs, so I just went in,” Thomas said.

Thomas could not be reached to elaborate on her comments. It was unclear which Home Depot she was in.

Jeff Poor, executive editor at 1819 News, told AL.com the incident Thomas was referring to took place before she worked at the outlet.

Efforts to reach the Atlanta-based home improvement chain on Thomas’ claims were not successful.

As the segment continued, Thomas said it was a break room rather than an office.

“There was a big stack of files and I just glanced at them and I looked through, and I saw their inclusion training. They’re saying to their employees, ‘you have to accept this. You have to do this,’” Thomas continued.

“You should accept people, you should be nice to people anyways, but to force people to believe a narrative that maybe some don’t want to believe is just so wrong. And these large corporations are coming in to Alabama and telling us what we have to do.”

Near the end of the segment, Sullivan said Thomas’ fans were “pretty excited” that she “infiltrated” the breakroom.

“I mean, I’m an investigative reporter but also I have to say I didn’t do anything illegal,” Thomas said. “There was no sign saying I couldn’t go in there.”

Thomas’ segment can be heard below. She begins to talk about Home Depot around the 13-minute mark:

Updated at 9:10 p.m. to indicate Thomas is the editor-at-large, not the editor-in-chief, of 1819 News