Florida fire captain: Trayvon died because of ‘sh*tbag… welfare dependent’ parents
2:02 pm - 04/16/2012
A Miami-Dade fire captain is under investigation after he asserted that the death of an unarmed Florida teen was the fault of “failed, shitbag, ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents.”
According to the Grio, Miami-Dade fire captain Brian Beckmann made the following entry on his Facebook page last week on the same day that State Attorney Angela Corey announced she was charging neighborhood watchmen George Zimmerman with the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin:
“Listening to Prosecutor Corey blow herself and her staff for five minutes before pre-passing judgment on George Zimmerman. The state seeks reelection again, truth aside. I and my coworkers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, shitbag, ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents, but like Mrs. Corey, we speak only the truth. They’re just misunderstood little church going angels and the ghetto hoodie look doesn’t have anything to do with why people wonder if they’re about to get jacked by a thug.”
Beckmann later deleted the post and defended himself, writing, “I am a private citizen and have the same right to freely express an opinion on any subject that anyone else does. I choose not to embellish or alter the facts as your employer chose to do.”
“Wrong, cap’n,” South Florida journalist Bob Norman wrote for WPLG. “You’re in a high-ranking position in taxpayer-financed fire department that serves all people in life and death situations, including those people in the inner city that you apparently despise. He’s proven himself unfit for public service.”
“The definition of racism begins: ‘The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race …’. Key word: all,” Norman added. “There’s no denying that there are deep problems in the black community that shouldn’t be ignored. But the real ignorance is to lump everyone together into one narrowly defined and incredibly negative and hateful ball. It’s not just stupid to do that, it’s dangerously stupid.”
A spokesman for the Miami-Dade Fire Department released a statement that promised the comments would be investigated.
“Captain Brian Beckmann has been with Miami-Dade county since 1997,” the statement confirmed. “The post on his personal Facebook page is being investigated by Miami-Dade fire rescue. The department’s only official Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/MiamiDadeFireRescue.”
Martin’s mother, Sabrina Fulton, is employed as a program coordinator at the Miami-Dade Housing Authority. His father, Tracey Martin, works as a truck driver. Neither of the parents is “dependant” on welfare.
Source is side-eyeing something hard. (On an unrelated note, OP apologizes for filling this slow Monday with so much rage.)
My fucking thoughts exactly.
If you're a public official, people have every right to hold you accountable for your disgusting viewpoints.
I hope they fire him. He shouldn't be serving the public when he thinks a majority of them are trash.
And even if they were, they don't deserve to die.
Besides, they can't openly show their hatred the poor that much - they still need people to clean their houses and businesses.
At any rate, this guy is a sack of shit. My mouth popped open into a little 'O' after reading his post. What a disgusting person. I hope he gets fired for this.
Edited at 2012-04-16 06:13 pm (UTC)
I constantly hear family members and other people who are bewildered as to why some minority groups can be hostily distrustful of cops and firefighters. Maybe because they know there are more than a few fucks like this out there.
This. I mean, if you're a public servant, then that does open you up to more scrutiny because fuck, I wouldn't trust a public servant who has such contempt and racism towards a particular demographic of his neighborhood.
Hell to the no. Get him the fuck outta there.
Trayvon died because of a trigger-happy asshole, loaded with fear and hate. The local police department's handling of this case has been questionable at best, while Trayvon's parents have been nothing but patient and calm considering what they're dealing with.
What really gets me is how arrogantly self-assured he is in his racism. He thinks that he can publicly say incredibly mean-spiritedly racist things with no consequences, and he has the gall to act indignantly self-righteous when he's called out on it. Not only does he fucking insult grieving parents, but he also isn't smart enough verify his outrageous claims before making them. In his mind, they were obviously on welfare! I mean, they're black, aren't they?
But really, Beckmann is the real victim here. A victim of *GAAASP!* censorship. :'(
I love that all Black people are automatically poor even though the average Black family are middle class like Trayvon's! Being disproportionately poor =/= everyone's poor.
And that being simply Black, poor and on welfare means that your life is not valued and forfeit. I just hope his views didn't cause deaths for those innocent people because you don't simply hold your views, you most likely practice them.
Also, most people who are on welfare? Like a vast majority of them (IIRC, it was around 90% of them) get off welfare within a year. And most people on welfare? White people.
And no, White people must learn you do not dictate who is a worthy Black person, or Derbyshire would put it, a 'Well Socialized Black", that have a White man's approval of having some value (but not as much value as a White people, right? Because of that WSB stepped out of line~).
And non-Black people still gaslight Black people when they talk about shit like this and will still continue to do so.
These are the times that I thank fuck for Facebook. Showing people asses' since the early 2000's! I only wish that somehow get his agreeing coworkers on the chopping block too.
In short, fuck the police.
Also, isn't Florida a right to work state? This guy is not protected from getting fired.