South Carolina Fire Chief Resigns Due To Racist Facebook Post About Black Neighborhoods And Police
A South Carolina fire chief resigned after causing controversy with an offensive Facebook post saying police should stop responding to Black neighborhoods.
According to the Associated Press, Lancaster County administrator Steve Willis told The State newspaper that Francis “Butch” Ghent quit on Friday as chief of the McDonald Green Volunteer Fire Department.
Following an internal investigation, Ghent had been suspended since making the post on April 22.
The post said police should stop responding to calls in Black neighborhoods and read, “They will eventually kill each other and the fake news won’t have a story.”
Ghent issued an apology to the fire department for the Facebook post.
“I realize this has placed the department in a poor light and continues to cause mistrust and controversy in the community we all serve,” the statement read.
Ghent asked for forgiveness and said he hoped that the community will begin to heal after he resigned. In an earlier apology, he had said the post was meant as a jab at news media.
McDonald Green is an all-volunteer department, according to Lancaster County officials. Firefighters there are not county employees and county officials said they have no authority to discipline Ghent, although county leaders including Lancaster County Council issued a statement condemning the post as offensive, the Associated Press reported.