Long Island Firefighter’s Facebook post about 2 men who died on stolen dirt bike brings trouble
Looking for a quality used fire truck? Selling one? Visit our sponsor Command Fire Apparatus
Watch News 12 Long Island story
A suspension for a Long Island volunteer firefighter after his Facebook post about the deaths of two young men on a stolen dirt bite. The post was from Jon-Paul Brechter a member of the Holbrook Fire Department. The post was about the deaths of 19-year-old Keenen King and 20-year-old Anthony Holmes-Garriques who were struck and killed by a vehicle driven by the brother of the man whose dirt bike King and Holmes-Garriques were riding.
According to Newsday, Stony Brook resident Abena Asare was one of the people who complained about both Brechter’s Facebook post and old unrelated images on the department’s website (read below).
Brechter, who lives in Holbrook, was suspended June 24, said Chris Heinssen, chief of the department.
Glenn Kurtzrock, a Hauppauge-based attorney representing Brechter, said Brechter has served his community as a volunteer firefighter for 14 years and has “an exemplary and unblemished record.”
While looking to contact department officials, Asare also noticed there were decades-old photos on the department’s website that featured Confederate flags and that the mascot for the department’s drill team was a Confederate soldier on the department’s website.
Heinssen said the mascot was discontinued toward the end of last year, and the photos Asare referenced are an “unfortunate part of the department’s history.”
