Texas Firefighter Fired For Facebook Post Praising Charleston Shooter Defends Himself, Says He Was Taken Out Of Context


A Texas firefighter who was fired for a Facebook post that appeared to praise alleged Charleston shooter Dylann Roof claims that his remarks were taken out of context, and that he did not intend to praise the alleged killer or his mass killing spree, KFOR (Oklahoma City) is reporting.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, former Mabank, Texas, firefighter Kurtis Cook was fired from his job after posting on a South Carolina newspaper’s Facebook page a sentence that appeared to support alleged shooter Dylann Roof.

“He needs to be praised for the good deed he has done.”

Speaking to a KLTV (Tyler, Texas) reporter, the former firefighter claims he was fired for a post that was taken out of context. Cook says that the word “he” in his post refers not to the alleged Charleston shooter, but to another person who was brought up obliquely in the thread where the story was being discussed.

“When I was looking at the threads and, you know, I was just reading down and there was a person there that posted, was donating a large sum of money to the victims, so I just said ‘This person ought to be praised for his good deed.’ “

And addressing the matter of whether or not he was racist, as the former firefighter’s post would suggest, Cook denies having a racist bone in his body.

“Making me look like I’m standing with this comment, like I’m supporting this Dylann guy, and I would never do that. I’m not racist, never been racist.”

Cook’s wife, Andrea Cook, claims that she was as surprised as her husband was that anyone would take offense at his post. But when her husband’s boss at the Fire Department asked Cook to come in to discuss his Facebook post, she wondered what the problem could be.

“We had no idea what kind of comment on Facebook he would have made that would offend anyone.”

Cook says that he has received death threats against himself and his family since the Facebook post, and he says that he’s going to have to move to protect his family.

“And now I’ll never be a fireman again. I’m going to lose my full-time job and I’m going to have to relocate. I’m not trying to just ‘do damage control.’ I’m just telling you the side of the story where I came from on this.”

Do you believe the former firefighter deserved to be fired for his Facebook post? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[Images courtesy of: Shutterstock / Gil C, Mabank Fire Department]

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