Facebook page supporting Texas firefighter has change of heart
A Facebook page and petition set up to support former Mabank, Texas firefighter Kurtis Cook took a sudden change in course. Kurtis Cook is the volunteer firefighter dismissed from the Mabank VFD on June 19 shortly after the department was notified that Cook had become embroiled in a controversy connected to the shooting deaths of nine people at a Charleston church two days earlier.
Previously:
Texas firefighter forced out after Facebook post in praise of Charleston shooter
Former Texas firefighter says his Facebook post was not in support of Charleston church shooter
The page “Support Kurtis Cook Until Proven Guilty” was set up on June 23 the day after Cook told a TV reporter that his Facebook comment to a South Carolina newspaper had been taken out of context. That comment said, “He needs to be praised for the good deed he has done”.
Kurtis Cook claimed in the TV interview his message was not in support of Dylann Roof, the man charged with the killings, but was instead a reaction to a post about a person who donated a large sum of money to the family of the victims. News coverage indicates that Cook did not provide such an explanation to the leadership at Mabank FD when he was confronted about the comment.
Here’s the post explaining why the “Support Kurtis Cook Until Proven Guilty” Facebook page was created:
On Thursday, the people who run the page were made aware of new information that led to a change of heart. According to the page, Cook had been involved in another racially charged controversy seven months earlier. The page cited Cook’s comments to a FireRescue1.com story about the Kentucky fire chief recorded using a racial slur against a black family involved in a vehicle collision. Here’s the latest post from “Support Kurtis Cook Until Proven Guilty” explaining its findings:
You can click here for the Facebook comments on the Novermber FireRescue1.com story. The comment from Kurtis Cook has been deleted but the “Support Kurtis Cook Until Proven Guilty” has this screen capture posted:
At the link you can also see that back in November people were outraged by Cook’s remarks and identified him then as a Mabank FD member.
