Baltimore firefighter investigated for violence against police Facebook comment
Jamal Brown apologizes says his intent 'wasn't malicious'
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Our latest SMACSS alert is from Baltimore, Maryland where a spokesman confirms a city firefighter is under investigation for his comment (above) on Facebook post advocating violence against police officers. For those who don’t know, SMACSS is an acronym for Social Media Assisted Career Suicide Syndrome.
Brown has been a firefighter in Baltimore since 1999. In a November 30 Facebook post he wrote about his comment, “To all it may concern I JAMAL BROWN PREZ BUCK apologize for offending the offended.” On Monday, he told WJZ-TV reporter Ava-joye Burnett his intent “wasn’t malicious” (more below).
Sarah Meehan, The Baltimore Sun:
Screenshots show firefighter Jamal Brown commented on an image that appears to urge violence against police. The image shows two black men pointing guns at a white police officer’s head. Text on the photo says, “Does it Have to come to This to make Them Stop Murdering and Terrorizing Us?”
Brown, who uses the name Jamal Brown Prez Buck on Facebook, commented: “Yes. We will also have to brutalize there [sic] family, people and love[d] ones the same way they do ours.”
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Watch WJZ-TV interview of Jamal Brown by reporter Avaj-joye Burnett
“Our men and women of the Baltimore City Fire Department and the Baltimore City Police Department, we are all brothers and sisters in blue and we are public servants here to serve the city of Baltimore,” said Baltimore City Fire spokeswoman Blair Skinner.
The firefighter’s union president said the matter is “currently being investigated by the fire department, and the union has been made aware of the situation.”
Monday night, Brown told WJZ that his comment was taken out of context and that he regrets making the comments. “I apologize for offending anyone that was offended. We work hand-in-hand with the Baltimore City police department. We are co-workers. We may work in different departments, but we are co-workers,” he said. “My intent, it wasn’t malicious at all. It was just, I replied to a post and it was taken completely out of character.”
