Abe Bristow was a freelance cameraman who was interviewing President Noah Grace at the Lincoln Memorial building on November 27, 1951. He was with fellow reporter Henry Stillman, in which the two shared their mutual disliking of President Grace.
During the interview a Spire impacted near the Lincoln Memorial, killing several people and releasing Spinners which attacked/infected the attending audience. Abe and Henry managed to run up into a pen in the Lincoln Memorial and escape the Spinners, which Abe was almost grappled by a Spinner and saved by Henry who threw the creature away. Luckily a Black Ops contingency unit arrived and exterminated the Spinners, but Abe was so shaken by the experience in which he started smoking to calm himself. A habit that he hadn't done before in his life. After the Spinners were eradicated, Abe was given back his camera, which was broken when he dropped it during the attack, by Stillman. Abe expressed his relief that he and Stillman were lucky to be alive.