The city of Columbia, SC and its county Richmond have taken the extraordinary step of firing 3 of its firefighters, who put their lives on the line for the community, for what is being called “unprofessional” Facebook postings that dare to criticize the racist group Black Lives Matter.
While details of the postings have not been made available for 2 of the firefighters those of Fire Capt. Jimmy Morris were made public.
The postings on Facebook came in response to BLM protesters blocking public streets and impeding the flow of traffic, which is not allowed during a lawful protest because it blocks not only private traffic but access to emergency vehicles.
Here are the two postings that caused the long serving fire captain to loose his job:
Note they are edited for language
“Idiots shutting down I-126. Better not be there when I get off work or there is gonna be some run over dumb a***s.”
Jimmy Morris, recently fired captain with the Columbia Fire Department
and
“Public Service Announcement: If you attempt to shut down an interstate, highway, etc on my way home, you best hope I’m not one of the first vehicles in line because your a** WILL get run over! Period! That is all….”
Jimmy Morris, recently fired captain with the Columbia Fire Department
While Captain Morris is politically incorrect and a bit crass, he is plainly upset that the not so peaceful protesters are endangering lives by blocking the streets of his city. Most rational people would recognize that this was not a real threat of physical violence as it was an angry outburst.
The captain has every right to oppose any group he chooses under the constitutional right of free speech but his speech should be moderated due to his position in the community, however, he should not have been fired for opposing BLM just because they have protected status by the Obama administration.
I am also willing to bet the others fired have mostly benign postings but because the pencil pushers that oversee them want to protect lawlessness the firefighters are not allowed protected speech.
For more on these firings and the closing for one of the city fire stations over this matter read: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article89491017.html
